Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
½ Frange / Franc
| Issuer | Shqipërië Vetqeveritare (Albanian Self-Government, Korçë) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | ½ Frange / Franc |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed entirely in green, with a dense guilloche underprint pattern composed of repeating zigzag bands and circular rosettes interspersed with the numeral '50' throughout the field. The denomination is stated bilingually in large bold letterpress text: 'DEMI FRANC' at the top and 'GJYSMË FRANGE' at the bottom, with the large numeral '1/2' centred between them. A violet double-headed eagle control stamp is applied in the upper right area of the reverse. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Control stamp |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The Korçë franc notes of 1917 are among the most locally-produced emergency issues anywhere in Europe during the First World War. The short-lived Albanian Self-Government at Korçë was a French-protected enclave — established in late 1916 after French forces pushed back Bulgarian and Central Powers occupation — and this currency was essentially a municipal improvisation printed by a local press, A. A. Vangheli, with no involvement from any major security printer. Davier, credited as both designer and engraver, remains otherwise unidentified in the literature.
The control stamp was the only real anti-counterfeiting measure, which tells you something about the circumstances under which these circulated.