As artefacts of culture, currency notes signify more than just tokens of payment. Currency designs primarily communicate information while conveying authority, prestige and notable representations of the popular. Humans are the most recurring theme; making currency imagery one of the most blatantly and widely advertised confluences of power, culture, gender and identity.

Although women are usually underrepresented on these financial artworks; this 1,000-French Franc note issued for colonial West Africa from 1945 manages to capture a noteworthy spectrum of female identity illustrations. The note bears a bare African mother and child embraced by Marianne, the personification of France, wearing a laurel crown exemplifying the French state as a “parental guardian.” An opposing juxtaposition; the African woman submissive with her head bowed down whereas; the French lady assertive, chin-up, embracing and protecting the couple. The artwork is eye-opening, powerful and illuminating. “What is the norm? Are both conforming to it? Is this social representation or is it an attempt to construct reality?” How are the gendered roles personified? Especially on money.
Despite their brash presence; currency artworks have gone unnoticed in their subliminal but significant exhibitions; being primarily charmed by economic authors. However, their circulation, impact and influence cannot be underestimated and their contribution towards culture and identity generation.
Using semiotics from the visual communications literature, this paper showcases the consistencies, disparities, regularities, absurdities and sensitivity of gender representation on money and aims to contribute uniquely to the illustration and interpretation of gender (non) conformity in popular media.