Second issue Allied Military currency (AMC), valued at 100 francs, distributed for use in France by the Allied Military Government for Occupied Territories (AMGOT), from June 1945 to July 1946. During and immediately after World War II, the Allied powers worked cooperatively to issue special currency for Allied troops in countries they had liberated or occupied. The goal of the joint currency issues was to protect local economies from inflation or weakening of their currency, and to present a united front. The currency was produced for Italy, France, Germany, Austria, and Japan. All of the production was carried out in secret, and the printing effort for each country was given its own code name. The printing of the Allied Military (AM) francs for France was known as Operation Tom Cat, and notes were issued two different times. The first issue included a French flag on the back, and was called the supplemental franc. The second issue replaced the flag with the word France, and was called the provisional franc. Both issues were printed under strict security measures by the Forbes Lithograph Manufacturing Company in Boston, Massachusetts. Allied forces brought the first notes with them on D-Day, June 6, 1944, when they stormed the beaches of Normandy to liberate France from the Germans. The notes were distributed under the orders of General Eisenhower, but the leader of the French Resistance, General Charles de Gaulle, called the AM francs counterfeit money and protested their use. The provisional notes replaced the supplemental notes in June of 1945, but quickly faded out of use.
Allied Military currency for France printed on lightweight, rectangular, cream-colored paper. The face has a rectangular, black ink border with an ornate web design, including geometric corners and scrollwork in the top and bottom center. Within the central rectangle is a green-blue floral underprint with wavy blue lines printed over it. The denomination is printed in the center with an elaborate blue border and an ornate web design, incorporating blue at the top left and bottom right corners. French text is printed in blue ink to the left and right of center. The serial number is printed in black ink below the French text on the left and above the French text on the right. The back has a rectangular, blue ink border with an ornate web design and scrollwork in the corners. There is a large oval medallion in the center with French text printed in blue ink on a cloud-filled background. The oval sits on a scrollwork pedestal flanked by leafy branches in blue ink. Blue and pink diagonal lines radiate outward from the oval with wavy blue lines printed across them. There is slight staining overall, particularly around the edges, and a large brown stain over the text left of center on the front. There are three vertical creases on the note.
overall: Height: 2.625 inches (6.668 cm) | Width: 6.125 inches (15.558 cm)
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The military currency was donated to the United Sates Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2003 by Joel Forman.
Allied Military currency for France, 100 franc note
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