10 Francs 1947, Guadeloupe
| in Krause book | Number: 32 |
| Years of issue: | 1947 |
| Edition: | |
| Signatures: | Le Directeur Général: André Postel-Vinay |
| Serie: | Serie 1947 |
| Specimen of: | 1947 |
| Material: | Cotton fiber |
| Size (mm): | 120 x 65 |
| Printer: | Banque de France, Chamalieres |
* All pictures marked 
are increased partially by magnifying glass, the remaining open in full size by clicking on the image.
** The word "Specimen" is present only on some of electronic pictures, in accordance with banknote images publication rules of appropriate banks.
Description
Watermark:
Galleon Santa-Maria and the anchors.
Avers:
The engraving on banknote is made, presumably, after the portrait by French painter Philippe de Champaigne, 1655. Today this portrait is in Metropolitan Art Museum, New-York, USA.
Jean-Baptiste Colbert (29 August 1619 – 6 September 1683) was a French politician who served as the Minister of Finances of France from 1665 to 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. His relentless hard work and thrift made him an esteemed minister. He achieved a reputation for his work of improving the state of French manufacturing and bringing the economy back from the brink of bankruptcy. Historians note that, despite Colbert's efforts, France actually became increasingly impoverished because of the King's excessive spending on wars. Colbert worked to create a favourable balance of trade and increase France's colonial holdings.
Colbert's market reforms included the foundation of the Manufacture royale de glaces de miroirs in 1665 to supplant the importation of Venetian glass (forbidden in 1672, as soon as the French glass manufacturing industry was on sound footing) and to encourage the technical expertise of Flemish cloth manufacturing in France. He also founded royal tapestry works at Gobelins and supported those at Beauvais. Colbert worked to develop the domestic economy by raising tariffs and by encouraging major public works projects, and to ensure that the French East India Company had access to foreign markets, so that they could always obtain coffee, cotton, dyewoods, fur, pepper and sugar. In addition, Colbert founded the French merchant marine.
Colbert issued more than 150 edicts to regulate the guilds. (One such law had the intention of improving the quality of cloth. The edict declared that if the authorities found a merchant's cloth unsatisfactory on three separate occasions, they were to tie him to a post with the cloth attached to him.) He created the seigneurial system. 
On background are the galleons Santa María, La Pinta and La Niña near Guadaloupes coast. During his second trip to America, Christopher Columbus became the first European to set foot on Guadeloupe on November 4, 1493. He called her "Santa Maria Guadalupe of Extremadura", in honor of the Spanish monastery.
About the galleons you can read here.
Denominations in numerals are in top corners, in words centered on top.
Revers:
Guadalupe landscape. Locals are on a traditional boat.
On left side is Manilkara zapota with fruits.
Manilkara zapota, commonly known as the sapodilla is a long-lived, evergreen tree native to southern Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. An example natural occurrence is in coastal Yucatán in the Petenes mangroves ecoregion, where it is a subdominant plant species. It was introduced to the Philippines during Spanish colonization. It is grown in large quantities in Pakistan, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Bangladesh and Mexico.
The name "zapota" from the Spanish zapote ultimately derives from the Nahuatl word tzapotl.
On right side is Longan with fruits.
Dimocarpus longan, commonly known as the longan, is a tropical tree that produces edible fruit. It is one of the better-known tropical members of the soapberry family (Sapindaceae), to which the lychee also belongs. Included in the soapberry family are the lychee, rambutan, guarana, korlan, pitomba, Spanish lime and ackee. Longan is commonly associated with lychee, which is similar in structure but more aromatic in taste. It is native to Southern Asia.
The longan (from Cantonese lùhng-ngáahn 龍眼, literally "dragon eye"), is so named because it resembles an eyeball when its fruit is shelled (the black seed shows through the translucent flesh like a pupil/iris). The seed is small, round and hard, and of an enamel-like, lacquered black. The fully ripened, freshly harvested fruit has a bark-like shell, thin, and firm, making the fruit easy to peel by squeezing the pulp out as if one is "cracking" a sunflower seed. When the shell has more moisture content and is more tender, the fruit becomes less convenient to shell. The tenderness of the shell varies due to either premature harvest, variety, weather conditions, or transport/storage conditions.
At the bottom, centered, is The Indian fig opuntia.
Opuntia ficus-indica is a species of cactus that has long been a domesticated crop plant important in agricultural economies throughout arid and semiarid parts of the world. It is thought probably to have originated in Mexico. Some of the common English names for the plant and its fruit are Indian fig opuntia, Barbary fig, cactus pear, spineless cactus, and prickly pear, although this last name has also been applied to other less common Opuntia species. In Mexican Spanish, the plant is called nopal, while the fruit is called tuna, which are names also used in American English, especially as culinary terms.
Denominations in numerals are in top corners.
Comments:
Designer: P. Munier.
Obverse engraver: Hourriez.
Reverse engraver: A. Chapon.
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