Catalog
500 Francs
| Issuer | Banque des États de l'Afrique Centrale - République Unie du Cameroun |
|---|---|
| Year | 1974-1983 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | CFA franc (Bank of Central African States, 1973-date) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | To the left, a large carved African mask rendered in intaglio anchors the composition, balanced on the far right by a tall wooden sculptural figure. The central vignette presents a scene of students engaged in laboratory work at benches, with a second group in the middle ground, all set against a guilloche-patterned background of repeating decorative motifs in salmon-pink tones. A cautionary anti-counterfeiting legend in French is set in a panel at the lower centre. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | P#15a - Signature 3. ND (1974). Engraved. P#15b - Signature 5. P#15c - Signature 10. 01.04.1978. P#15d - Signature 12. 01.06.1981 & 01.01.1983. P#15e - Signature 12. 01.01.1982. |
| Comments |
The Banque des États de l'Afrique Centrale — the regional central bank serving the six CFA franc states of central Africa — issued this note under the Camerounian suffix "E" code, distinguishing it from identical-format notes circulating simultaneously in Chad, Gabon, the Central African Republic, Congo, and Equatorial Guinea. The shared plate design and common printer meant that notes from different member states were technically interchangeable at face value, though each country's issues were nominally tied to its own allocation.
The "République Unie du Cameroun" designation dates this series to after the 1972 constitutional referendum that merged the federal state into a unitary republic — a name subsequently dropped in 1984 when Biya's government reverted to simply "République du Cameroun."