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500 Francs
| Issuer | Banque Centrale des États de l'Afrique de l'Ouest |
|---|---|
| Year | 1961-1965 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 175 x 100 mm |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Multicolour. At left, a portrait of a woman in traditional attire and jewellery set within a central vignette; at right, a farmer operating a tractor in a cultivated field with palm trees in the background. Issuer name across the top, denomination '500' at upper corners, and an anti-counterfeiting legal notice in a central cartouche. |
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| Protection type | Watermark |
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| Comments |
The BCEAO was established in 1959 as the successor to the Institut d'Émission de l'Afrique Occidentale Française, and this 500 Francs series bridged that transition — carrying forward a CFA franc infrastructure built under French oversight while nominally serving eight newly independent states. The volume of signatories across this series is striking: the rotating right-hand signature reflects each member state's rotating representation on the board, not separate national issues.
Robert Julienne held the Directorship with unusual continuity, his signature appearing across virtually the entire run while national representatives cycled through. Henri Konan Bédié, who signed later in the series, went on to become President of Côte d'Ivoire — making his appearance here an early bureaucratic footnote to a turbulent political career.