1000 francs Suez type 1956

Produced specifically for the Suez Crisis intervention of late 1956, this note was issued by the French Treasury for military use in the eastern Mediterranean — a short-lived, operationally specific emission tied directly to France's participation in Operation Musketeer alongside British and Israeli forces. The campaign collapsed under American and Soviet pressure within weeks, and the notes saw almost no meaningful circulation before the operation was abandoned.

Beltrand and Broutin were senior engravers at the Banque de France's own printing works, and Fel's design was executed at speed to meet an urgent military timetable. The brevity of the Suez operation means surviving examples were largely returned unissued.