Free French Africa  (1941)

At the beginning of the war, Metropolitan France is no longer based on anything. She finds a saving legitimacy near her colonies. Then, in a burst of pride, a French State is created and legally named "Free French Africa", including Cameroon and French Equatorial Africa ... A.E.F. is declared independent of France from Vichy and Brazzaville becomes the center of operations of Free France. It was then decided to issue a new series called "Free French Africa" ​​and composed of four notes of 5, 25, 100 and 1000 francs. This series is close enough to the traditional polychrome banknotes issued by the Bank of France, but the printing has been entrusted to the English printer Bradbury Wilkinson & Co of London. All the notes are in color and symbolically contain the French flag which is positioned in the upper right corner, but oddly, it will be reproduced in monochrome red or blue! Banknotes are printed on a paper with the same watermark of a girl in profile. It is the signature of General de Larminat which is used for the Council of Defense and that of Pierre Denis for the Financial Director. The serial numbers used on these denominations do not correspond to the usual numbering of the Bank of France. The notes are not dated but were put into circulation between 1942 and 1943.