0,10 Franc

Madagascar's colonial administration issued fractional notes in 1916 largely because of a coin shortage — small denomination metal currency had been drained from the island by wartime metal demands and disrupted shipping from France. These emergency papier-monnaie pieces were never intended as a permanent fixture; the colonial government expected to withdraw them once coinage returned to normal circulation.

Local printing under wartime conditions is the more unusual detail here. Most colonial emergency issues from this period were handled by metropolitan presses, but P#23 was produced in Madagascar itself — a logistical necessity, not a deliberate policy choice.