v44_1053 - THIRD REPUBLIC - FRENCH WEST-AFRICA Jeton 1, valeur d’échange 5 francs 1883 Paris

THIRD REPUBLIC - FRENCH WEST-AFRICA

West Africa includes the territories that will become Gabon and the Middle Congo. There was a severe lack of cash in these regions. In the early 1880s, Savorgnan de Brazza imposed countermarked pieces of metal in zinc or tin with shapes that determined the value: 0.10 - 0.20 - 0.50 - 1.00 and 1.50 francs. These parts are raw from manufacture. The second series with the marks 10, 5 and 1 circulates for the equivalent of 50, 25 and 5 francs.