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50 Centimes
| Issuer | Gouvernement Général de l'Afrique Occidentale Française (AOF) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917-1919 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Plain paper bon de caisse with a decorative guilloche border in brown on white. Circular vignettes at left and right reproduce the obverse and reverse of a 50 Centimes coin, the left showing a wreath and denomination, the right showing the standing Sower figure of the French Republic. The large denomination numeral "0 fr. 50" is printed in the centre, with the issuing authority legend across the top and a serial number and two manuscript signature lines below for the Trésorier-Payeur and the Lieutenant-Gouverneur. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | 50 CENTIMES / EXTRAIT DU DÉCRET DU 11 FÉVRIER 1917 / Ce bon de caisse a cours forcé dans toute la Colonie. / 50 CENTIMES / Imp. Chaix - Paris |
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| Comments |
The AOF's small-denomination emergency notes of 1917–19 exist because the First World War created a severe coin shortage across French West Africa — metal was needed elsewhere, and the colonial monetary system had no mechanism to absorb the gap. These 50 centimes notes were a stopgap, printed by Chaix in Paris and shipped out to cover transactions that would ordinarily have been handled in bronze.
Chaix was primarily a commercial and poster printer, not a security press. The choice reflects wartime pragmatism over anti-counterfeiting concern.