10 000 Francs

Czesław Słania engraved this note — a detail worth pausing on. The Polish-born master was the most prolific stamp engraver in history, responsible for over a thousand stamp designs across multiple countries, and his involvement in banknote work was comparatively rare. His hand gives the intaglio work here a precision and tonal depth that distinguishes it from notes produced through purely photomechanical processes.

By 1992 Belgium was already committed to European monetary union, making this one of the final high-denomination issues before the franc's eventual retirement. The 10,000 franc note was never a note of everyday commerce.