Today’s selection is quite distinctively African. The French, English and Germans colonized large areas of Africa and exerted great influences on the regions Today’s note comes from the West African States, (often called French West Africa or FWA) a former federation of eight French colonial territories located on the northwest coast of Africa. The African states provide a common currency as the European Union now does for Europe. The West African states are the republics of Dahomey (now Benin), Mali, Senegal, Upper Volta (not to be confused with High Voltage), Ivory Coast, Niger, and Guinea-Bissau. Each country has a unique letter printed on the note.

The note is a 1958 issue 50 Franc from Togo. This particular issue was issued with out a code letter, but it is marked Togo. On the front is three African women on the front and a woman with a headdress back dropped by a city view and a river with ships depicting modernization and commerce. The darkening on the borders is called ‘foxing’ it occurs with older notes. Sorry for the long winded description, hope you enjoy the note.