It's probably been over a decade that I've been looking to complete this set of "Marianne de Walhain" notes, and just recently I was happy to pick up the last of the set. This note was designed by Charles Walhain and engraved by Emile Deloche at Banque de France. The first issue was in 1917 as a 5F French note showing Marianne ready for war on the face, and a dock scene on the back. The face art was then used by Banque de l'Indochine in the latter half of the 1920's for notes in French Indochina, Djibouti, New Caledonia and Tahiti. Marianne sports a more stylish helmet, and the back now has a more traditional geometric design. In 1941 and 1943, the note was released in New Hebrides and then French Somaliland/Djibouti with Free French overprints. There is a note from French India that uses the same vignette (and is quite rare), and lots of ephemera can be found as well with the vignette.
Beautiful set = thanks for sharing and scanning Sadly I don't appear to have even one French note in my collection.
I also made a set from the time of Revolution to now, although in coins. Bourbon dynasty (1589–1792) *French-India, Puducherry, 1700s (1664–1954) French First Republic (1792–1804) House of Bonaparte, First Empire (1804–1814) Bourbon Restoration (1815–1830) House of Orléans, July Monarchy (1830–1848) *French-India, Puducherry, 1836 (1664-1954) French Second Republic (1848–1852) House of Bonaparte, Second Empire (1852–1870) French Third Republic (1870–1940) Vichy France (1940–1944) Provisional Government of the French Republic (1944–1947) *French Indochina (1887-1954) * French Madagascar (1897-1958) French Fourth Republic (1947–1958) Fifth French Republic (1958–present) *French Polynesia, 1965 *New Caledonia, 1971 *Colonies
Very nice set & background info @Dave M . I agree with @BasSWarwick & @Mountain Man that its always a nice sense of accomplishment once one has put a set together. I only have 4 French banknotes & had my eye on P-83 a while back (& would like to add more). Well done!
I sure do! They'll have to pry this one out of my cold dead hands... ...the back, since there are a lot of pics of the front
Oh yeah, now you're talking! That note was more art than money IMHO. Curious why they were printed in 1918 but not released and only briefly in 1938?
An enjoyable visit to your site, remember you from years ago. I like various French printed notes - they have a look and feel all their own. I miss also using French francs in circulation. The 200FF and 500FF were fairly decent sized notes. Terre et Mer - Earth and Sea - my prized French note.
Definitely a piece of art. I'm only reading from the catalog here, so my apologies for not really knowing the details. Flameng actually designed the piece and it was engraved in 1897. Then at the end of WWI it was printed, but deemed not up to par in a security sense because it was printed on non-watermarked paper. Finally it was reprinted and released in 1938 "because it was deemed too important to sit in reserve". As there was a current 5000F note at the time (the Victoire) I suspect this was a bit much (large, more complicated process than they wanted), it was just released just for that one month. I suppose one could call it an early numismatic collector's item, except they did circulate.
Yep that is a beauty for sure. I have yet to get one myself... I've recently picked up some new French notes, which is why I'm spending some time on the forums. Seems like I need several hobbies to circulate between, as material tends to become unavailable.
I am on the prowls myself for the Empire Francais 5000FF - hard to find without pinholes etc though. I've watched auctions and frankly I believe a lot of graded notes are repaired, cleaned etc and still holdered. I also am looking for the 10K Genie Francais.
Do you still collect "anything with a pretty lady on it?" That's a tough topic, and those two will definitely add to the collection!
