100 Francs Dakar, overprint

The Banque de l'Afrique Occidentale series to which this note belongs was printed well before 1919 — the overprint placing this specimen at Dakar was applied to existing stock rather than produced as a fresh issue. The BAO operated across French West Africa as a note-issuing colonial bank, with Dakar serving as its principal seat, and the place-name overprint was used to assign liability to a specific branch in ways that mattered legally to the bank's charter structure.

Dupuis was a celebrated medallist at the Paris Mint; his involvement explains the quality of the intaglio work. Léveillé's engraving on the face is characteristically fine-line, and Rousseau's reverse work reflects the BAO's house standard for the period.