1000 Francs - Minerve & Hercule type 1945

The Minerve & Hercule 1000 Francs was commissioned as France was still emerging from occupation — the design brief demanded imagery that asserted republican strength at a moment when the Vichy-era notes needed to be swept from circulation as quickly as possible. Clément Serveau had long worked within the Banque de France's design orbit, and Marliat's engraving on the obverse is among the more accomplished intaglio work of the immediate postwar series.

Three distinct signature combinations span the issue across five years, reflecting personnel changes at the Banque de France rather than any reissue or revision to the plates themselves. The Gargam-signed examples from 1948 onward are the more commonly encountered today.