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2 Francs
| Issuer | Régence de Tunis |
|---|---|
| Year | 1918 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Brown note with bilingual text in French and Arabic. Central denomination DEUX FRANCS within a guilloche border, flanked by the value numeral 2 in corner cartouches. Series and serial number printed below, with two manuscript signatures over an oval stamp reading CONDAMNÉ AUX TRAVAUX FORCÉS À PERPÉTUITÉ. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Brown note with a guilloche geometric underprint filling the entire field. A circular stamped arms vignette is applied at centre. Corner cartouches bear the value numeral 2, and the inscriptions RÉGENCE DE TUNIS and PROTECTORAT FRANÇAIS appear at top and bottom respectively. |
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| Comments |
The Régence de Tunis series of 1918 was a direct response to the metal coin shortage gripping the French colonial territories during the First World War. Bronze and nickel had been diverted to the war effort, and small-denomination notes like this 2 Francs filled the transactional gap that coinage could no longer cover. These emergency fractional issues were never intended as permanent fixtures of the monetary system.
Pick 41 is among the more elusive of the wartime Tunisian emergency issues. The Régence — a nominally autonomous Beylik operating under French protectorate authority since 1881 — issued under its own name rather than through the Banque de l'Algérie, which is the detail that gives this series its distinct collecting identity.