Banknotes & World War II: West Africa 1942

Today I'm investigating a 5 franc note issued in French West Africa in 1942. It was in use over the eight colonies of West Africa, at the time controlled by Vichy France in WWII. The note tells us something about French colonial power and its difficulty in maintaining currency flow, but also a little bit about the people of West Africa, the Second World War, and the complicated connections between Free French Equatorial Africa, the Allied push through North Africa, and soldiers' penchant for collecting banknotes from the countries they passed through.

A banknote always tells a story from a particular point of view, attempting to unite its users and inspire faith and confidence in the country and its banking system. Currency only works when users will accept it in exchange and have faith that other users will do the same. It also needs to be difficult to copy so as to discourage counterfeit, and the security measures embedded within a note are always interesting to examine.

Note Nook is researched and presented by me, W.B. Hafford, archaeologist and economic anthropologist. It is a sub-set of a more conceptual series of money lectures, called Money Talks. The banknotes featured come from my personal collection and many are heavily worn. But circulation of a note means it has fulfilled its purpose, and wear patterns can tell us a great deal. Pristine notes may be valuable for most collectors, but for an anthropologist interested in usage and history, somewhat worn notes are often more interesting. Supplementary imagery is drawn from Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons license.