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23
French Equatorial Africa (FEA). Caisse Centrale de la France Libre. No date (1941). Work by Edmund Dulac. Dimensions: 125 x 75 mm. Printer: Bradbury and Wilkinson of London. Banknote without watermark. No security thread. Front and back: printing in purple on a security background in yellow and green gradient composed of geometric patterns repeated continuously. On the front: the value "10" is repeated on the left and right of the note. Numbering printed in red. Signatures, values and labels are printed in purple. In the center, in a dark red oval in the shape of an eye, a portrait of Marianne wearing a Phrygian cap in profile. Marine anchors with cross of Lorraine on both sides of the figure. Two signatures: The Chief Executive Officer: André Diethelm and The Chairman of the Supervisory Board: René Pleven. On the back: guillochages in the angles on a security background in yellow, green and purple shading and in an oval, article 139 of the Penal Code framed by the value "10" repeated on the left and on the right. Ordinance of December 2, 1941. Issued in 1943 (June 6): series FB 015,001 to FB 1,000,000. The banknotes of the series FB 000,001 to FB 015,000 were lost at sea during a shipment to Djibouti on March 1, 1943 (source: Leclerc-Kolsky). 1944 issue (April 20): FC 000,001 to FC 1,000,000 series. No issue for Cameroon. The specimen is known to only 8 copies in the FB series and 55 copies in the FC series with a red "SPECIMEN" overprint in diagonal and a perforation "114" upside down. Copy seen: "FC 960,621". A canceled copy is known to be punched on the numbers and signatures and numbered "FB 806,559". Another specimen is known numbered "FC 000,001-FC 1,000,000" with a red number "12,345" in the upper margin and horizontally perforated "SPECIMEN" in small characters. Finally, a proof on the back is known comprising two annulment perforations and annotated by hand: "Approved for back 11.3.42", but signature unknown.
Note: identical banknote issued for St-Pierre & Miquelon with different serial numbers.
