Description

Guadeloupe is an archipelago that consists of six inhabited islands, Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the Îles des Saintes, as well as many uninhabited islands and outcroppings.

Christopher Columbus named the island Santa María de Guadalupe in 1493 after the Virgin Mary, venerated in the Spanish town of Guadalupe. Upon becoming a French colony, the Spanish name was retained though altered to French orthography and phonology. In 1946 the colony of Guadeloupe became an overseas region of France.

Guadeloupe used coins minted for all French New World colonies marked "Colonies Françaises", or countermarked coins until the first coins were minted for it in 1903.

Engraver: Henri-Auguste Patey

Obverse

Bust of an Arawak man with feathers on his headband, facing left, within circle and name of the designer A. Patey, surrounded by inscriptions in French "French Republic" above and "Guadeloupe and Dependencies" below.

The Arawak are a group of indigenous peoples of South America and of the Caribbean.

• RÉPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE •
A . PATEY
GUADELOUPE ET DÉPENDANCES

Reverse

Sugar cane stalk divides date and denomination ("Good for 1 Franc"). The inscription in French "Against a Deposit in the Treasury" below.

BON POUR
1 F.
19 03
•CONTRE•VALEUR•DÉPOSÉE•AU•TRÉSOR•

Edge

1 Franc

KM# 46
Characteristics
Material Cupronickel
Weight 5.6 g
Diameter 25.2 mm
Thickness 1.35 mm
Shape round
Alignment Coin
Mint
Paris Mint (A)

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