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Auction: 18050 - The Ibrahim Salem Collection of World Banknotes Part I and Part II
Lot: 518

(x) Banque de Madagascar, specimen 5000 Francs, Tananarive, 30 April 1942, serial number 000000, dark green on brown paper, two oxen, reverse woman with bowl of fruit at centre, baobab tree at left, workers at right, overprinted Specimen in red on obverse and reverse.
(Pick 44s), PCGS Currency 35 Very Fine, staple holes and pinholes. Excessively rare, one that may not be seen again for a long time. In 1940, following France’s surrender to Germany, Madagascar rallied to the Vichy French State. The Allies became concerned that the Japanese might use the island as a base for submarine operations against Allied shipping in the Indian Ocean.
Following a blockade by the Royal Navy, an amphibious assault was launched on 5 May 1942. The Allies’ main landings around Courrier Bay and Ambararata Bay (across the peninsula from Diego Suarez, the main naval base on the northern tip of Madagascar) were unopposed. The French defenders capitulated on 7 May, but the Vichy governor of the island retreated to the south of the island with his forces. Vichy resistance continued until November 1942.
The new political change made it difficult to receive a steady supply of banknotes from France and eventually led to the obvious halt of currency to the island, giving rise to a fear that the reserves of local notes would be exhausted, making it impossible to respond to public demand. Thus the measure of local printing was taken and in 1941 the Banque de Madagascar issued an emergency banknote of 1,000 francs to be used in the territory; the note is dated 15 December 1941, printed on poor quality paper with a very simple design; it was signed by the bank’s Director and Cashier. The note was printed in three issues, each differs by the cashier signatures with a total printing of 288,000 notes. In 1942 a 5,000 franc note was designed dated 30 April 1942, but eventually due to the invasion in May 1942 and subsequent surrender of the island to the Allies in November, it was never issued and known only as specimen.


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Sold for
£16,000