Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
0,50 Franc
| Issuer | Gouvernement Général de Madagascar et Dépendances |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920 |
| Type | Emergency banknote |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| 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 | REPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE MADAGASCAR ET DÉPENDANCES 50 |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in olive-brown tones and carries a central vignette of a standing dog rendered in a naturalistic engraved style, set against a plain lightly toned background. The composition is spare, with no additional inscriptions or ornamental borders framing the animal motif. This stamp-money reverse is characteristic of the wartime and post-war emergency fractional currency issues of the French colonial territories. |
| 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 | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Madagascar's Gouvernement Général issued these small-denomination fractional notes in 1920 to address a chronic shortage of coin in circulation — a problem common across French colonial territories in the immediate postwar period, when metal was scarce and shipping schedules for coinage from the metropole were unreliable. The 50-centime note was essentially a necessity instrument, not a banking product.
Pick 1 is the first catalogued note for Madagascar, making it the foundation of the territory's paper money series. Surviving examples are not common; fractional emergency issues of this kind suffered heavy attrition through everyday handling and were rarely saved.