20 francs Type 1944 Papeete

Reference:

Pick: #20 , The Banknote Book: B318 , Other: #MK518

Reference list

Description

French Polynesia. Tahiti. Bank of Indochina. 1920-1963 Issues. Work by Henri Bonneaud. Dimensions: 162 x 63 mm. Watermark: no. The note is undated but was issued in 1944. Printer: Commonwealth Banknote Company of Melbourne, Australia. Two-color printing front and back, mainly brown and yellow. Texts in French. Description of the front: frame composed of repeating accordion shapes. In the center of the upper edge, the label "BANK OF INDOCHINA" is printed in a cartridge. Below, the value in letters is printed in dark brown. On the left, an allegory of France represented by a woman wearing a crown of oak leaves and wheat and with ribbons in her hair. In the center, a view of a Polynesian coastline with three men sailing on a tongiaki, a large Austronesian sailing dugout with double hull similar to a catamaran and native to Tonga. On the right, a native seated at the edge of the water, holds a lance in his hands and seems to watch the boat go away. The value “20” is printed twice in dark brown at two opposite angles. The numbering and prefixes are printed in black in the drawing and in the upper right corner. The place of issue “PAPEETE” is printed in dark brown in a cartouche at the lower left corner. A single combination of signatures with The Branch Officer, Émile Dufour and a Deputy Director (signature not identified). Description of the back: brown and yellow frame composed of braided graphic patterns. In the center, a Polynesian tribal mask. On the left, the value in numbers and letters are printed in dark green. On the right, article 139 of the penal code is printed in dark brown on six lines above a yellow number "20". The specimen is known overprinted "SPECIMEN" in red in horizontal in the center and numbered "P 000000". 200,000 issued notes. 21,555 copies were still in circulation in April 1956.

Banknotes :Bank of Indochina (1920-1963)