0 Euro - Chamonix - La Mer de Glace

The zero-euro souvenir note program was launched in 2015 by Richard Faille, a French entrepreneur, and operates under license from the European Central Bank, which permits the denomination on the condition that the notes cannot function as legal tender. Oberthur Fiduciaire prints them to full banknote specification — same security threads, same intaglio-feel surface treatment — which is precisely what makes them attractive to a collecting market that has grown faster than most insiders anticipated.

The Mer de Glace is the largest glacier in France and has been a tourist draw since the 18th century. It has also lost roughly 150 meters in depth since the 1980s — a detail that gives the souvenir an unintentional documentary quality.