Banknote Billet Réunion 20 nf 1971

Remarks:

Plis, froissé, tâches

This 1000 Francs / 20 Nouveaux Francs banknote was issued in 1971 for Réunion, a French territory in the Indian Ocean. It belongs to Series R.2 and represents a particularly notable example of Réunion numismatics due to its dual printed face value.

The most distinctive feature of this banknote lies in its overprinted nature: the original value of 1000 Francs was modified by the application of an overprint indicating 20 Nouveaux Francs. This characteristic reflects the monetary transition that took place in France and its territories during the shift to the new franc, introduced by the monetary reform of 1960. The overprint allowed existing banknote stocks to be reused without undertaking a complete redesign of the issue, a common practice in French overseas territories during this transitional period.

This type of overprinted banknote was issued under the authority of the Institut d'Émission des Départements d'Outre-Mer (IEDOM), the institution responsible for monetary management in France's overseas departments, of which Réunion has been a part since its departmentalization in 1946. The coexistence of two face values ? the old one in francs and the new one in nouveaux francs ? on the same fiduciary medium makes it a historical document reflecting a pivotal period in French monetary history.

From a conservation and numismatic study perspective, membership of Series R.2 allows this banknote to be precisely identified within the fiduciary production intended for Réunion, thereby facilitating its classification and attribution in specialized catalogues. The effective nominal value of this banknote corresponds to 20 nouveaux francs, equivalent to 1000 old francs at the time of its issue in 1971.