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50 Centimes
| Issuer | Gouvernement Général de l'Afrique Occidentale Française (AOF), Colonie du Dahomey |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 50 Centimes (0.50) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | 50 CENTIMES EXTRAIT DU DÉCRET DU 11 FÉVRIER 1917 50 CENTIMES 50 CENTIMES Les bons de caisse émis auront cours forcé soit dans toute l`étendue de la Colonie, soit dans certaines localités désignées par le Lieutenant-Gouverneur de la Colonie intéressée et ne pourront, en aucun cas, circuler hors de cette Colonie ou de ces localités; ils seront remboursés en espèces dans un délai de deux ans, lequel commencera à courir à partir de la cessation des hostilités. Ceux qui auront contrefait ou falsifié les bons de caisse ou fait usage de ces bons contrefaits ou falsifiés seront poursuivis conformément aux lois et punis de travaux forcés à perpétuité ou de l`emprisonnement perpétuel, suivant le statut personnel des délinquants. Ce bon de caisse a cours forcé dans toute la Colonie. 50 CENTIMES Gorée. — Imp. Gouvᵗ Génᵃˡ. |
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| Variants | P#1a - watermark: bees P#1b - watermark: laurel leaves |
| Comments |
The AOF emergency fractional notes of 1917 exist because the First World War severed the supply of small coinage to French West Africa entirely. With metropolitan France diverting metal to the war effort, individual colonial administrations were authorized to print their own paper substitutes for coin denominations — an unusual devolution of monetary authority within the federation. Dahomey's issues were printed on Gorée Island, off Dakar, where the Gouvernement Général maintained its colonial press.
These fractional notes circulated alongside identical-format issues from other AOF colonies — Senegal, Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire — distinguished only by the colony name. Survival rates are low; the paper was fragile, the denominations heavily used in daily trade.