Catalog
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| Issuer | Banque du Sénégal |
|---|---|
| Year | 1874 |
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| Engraver(s) | Obverse: Charles-Jules Robert Reverse: Charles Wullschleger |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BANQUE DU SÉNÉGAL IL SERA PAYÉ EN ESPÈCES, À VUE, AU PORTEUR CINQ FRANCS (PAR GROUPE DE CINQ BILLETS.) Le Directeur. Le Caissier. AH CABASSON. INV ET DEL 1874 J. ROBERT, SC. |
| Reverse description | An intaglio vignette of a female head in left-facing profile occupies the centre, set within an ornate oval surround of scrollwork and floral branches with birds among the foliage at left and right. A caduceus is placed at the top centre of the surround. The statutory and legislative inscription runs around the outer decorative border. |
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| Comments |
The Banque du Sénégal was established in 1853 as one of France's earliest colonial banking institutions, modeled on the Banque de la Guadeloupe and granted a twenty-year privilege that was subsequently renewed. This 5 Francs note from the 1874 series represents the bank's paper emission during a period when metallic currency was chronically scarce in Dakar and Saint-Louis — local commerce depended heavily on these small-denomination notes in ways that metropolitan French branches rarely experienced.
Charles-Jules Robert and Charles Wullschleger were both associated with the Banque de France's engraving workshops, which strongly suggests the plates were produced in Paris rather than in Senegal, though no contemporary documentation has conclusively confirmed the press run location.