2019-12-06 Fri

Tunisia is a North African country bordering the Mediterranean Sea and the Sahara Desert. In the capital, Tunis, the Bardo Museum has archaeological exhibits from Roman mosaics to Islamic art. The city’s medina quarter encompasses the massive Al-Zaytuna Mosque and a thriving souk. To the east, the site of ancient Carthage features the Antonine Baths and other ruins, plus artifacts at the Carthage National Museum. Its northernmost point, Cape Angela, is the northernmost point on the African continent.

Tunisia is an export-oriented country in the process of liberalizing and privatizing an economy. The franc was the currency of Tunisia between 1891 and 1958. It was divided into 100 centimes and was equivalent to the French franc. In 1903, the Banque de l'Algérie introduced 5 franc notes with the overprint "Tunisie".

The note in the image alongside is a 100 franc banknote in use from 1939-1942. The obverse has the portrait Berber man (a member of the indigenous people of North Africa, among whom are the nomadic Tuareg) wearing a tagelmust (The tagelmust (also known as cheich, cheche and litham) is an indigo-dyed cotton garment, with the appearance of both a veil and a turban) to left with a farmhouse and mountain in the background. The note has a border of grapes and grapevines.

The reverse features Palm tree fronds, grapes, fruits, Mountains, Village with a scene of a farmer ploughing with oxen in centre forefront. This multi-coloured banknote has a Woman's face profile in national headdress (sometimes also identified as ancient goddess Isis) as its watermark.

Image Courtesy: https://www.lamaisonducollectionneur.fr/