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500 Francs overprint
| Issuer | Banque de la République du Burundi |
|---|---|
| Year | 1966 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Franc (1962-date) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Brown intaglio print over a yellow guilloche underprint, with black serial numbers at lower left and right. A vignette of the bank building appears at right, with bilingual text in French and Kirundi arranged across the note. A black overprint obscures the original bank title inscriptions at both top and bottom, replacing them with the new issuing authority's name dated 01-08-66. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Brown intaglio print over a multicolour guilloche underprint. The coat of arms of Burundi is positioned at centre, flanked by bilingual text in French and Kirundi. The original bank title of the Kingdom of Burundi remains visible in the underprint, as this face was not subject to the overprint applied to the obverse. |
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| Comments |
This note began life as a standard Banque du Congo Belge / Banque d'Émission du Rwanda et du Burundi issue, later overprinted for exclusive Burundian use following the separation of the Rwanda-Burundi monetary zone. The 1964–1966 period saw Burundi scrambling to assert independent monetary infrastructure after the colonial currency arrangements collapsed, and overprinted transitional notes were the practical stopgap while new designs were commissioned from De La Rue.
The overprint itself is the entire story here — it transforms an earlier regional note into a sovereign Burundian instrument without new engraving or design expenditure. Worth confirming the overprint is crisp and correctly registered; misaligned strikes are known on this series.