10,000 Francs

The Banque Centrale des États de l'Afrique Équatoriale was the common currency authority for the franc zone states of Central Africa — Chad, Central African Republic, Congo-Brazzaville, and Gabon — before each country assumed individual central banking arrangements under the BEAC structure formalized in 1972. This note belongs to the final years of that shared institution, issued when the political cohesion underpinning a multinational issuer was already fraying.

At 10,000 francs, this was the highest denomination in the series — a note that would have moved through commercial and government channels rather than ordinary retail trade. Banque de France production guaranteed consistent print quality, but high-denomination notes from this issuer are genuinely scarce in any grade; survival rates are low precisely because they circulated hard in economies with limited banking infrastructure.