1.000 Francs

Belgium's 1908 1.000 Francs issue predates the country's First World War occupation by only six years, and notes from this series found themselves at the center of a remarkable monetary problem: the German military administration, after occupying Belgium in 1914, did not immediately suppress Belgian banknotes but instead pressured the Banque Nationale to continue issuing currency to fund occupation costs. Pre-war high-denomination notes like this one were subsequently absorbed into that coercive financing mechanism.

Pick 72A distinguishes itself from the broader 72 series through signature combination — a detail that matters more than it might appear, since changeovers in signatory pairs at the Banque Nationale typically correspond to specific directorial appointments rather than arbitrary print runs.