Catalog
500 Francs
| Issuer | Banque de la République du Mali |
|---|---|
| Year | 1967 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Thomas De La Rue & Company, Limited, London, United Kingdom |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Printed in green on an uncoloured ground, the central vignette presents a herd of longhorn Zebu cattle grazing on open pasture, rendered in fine intaglio engraving. A decorative panel at the left carries symbolic agricultural motifs, while the denomination numeral 500 appears in each corner within guilloche cartouches. The legend CINQ CENTS FRANCS is set in bold letterpress along the lower margin, flanked by an ornamental rosette, with the printer's imprint of Thomas De La Rue & Company, Limited below. |
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| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Watermark |
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| Comments |
Mali's first post-independence currency series was issued after the country withdrew from the West African Monetary Union in 1962 and established the Malian franc as a standalone currency — a politically charged move that put the new republic at odds with France and the CFA zone for over a decade. By 1967, when this note was issued, the Malian franc had already suffered significant depreciation, and the series would be short-lived: Mali rejoined the UMOA in 1984 and the Malian franc was eventually retired.
Thomas De La Rue's London production is consistent across the republic's early emission, with watermark security being the sole anti-counterfeiting measure — modest by the standards of the period, but not unusual for a small issuer with limited negotiating leverage over its printer contract.