1000 Francs - type 1831

The Type 1831 thousand-franc note is the founding instrument of the Banque de France's large-denomination paper series — the first issue to reach this face value under the July Monarchy, introduced just as Louis-Philippe's government was scrambling to stabilize confidence after the upheaval of 1830. At 1,000 francs, this was not a note that passed through ordinary hands; it circulated almost exclusively among merchants, notaries, and institutions settling large commercial debts.

Andrieu was by then an elderly man — he had engraved Napoleonic coinage and imperial seals — and Normand brought architectural precision from his work on decorative arts publishing. A 12-million-plus print run over a type that spanned decades explains why surviving examples vary so sharply in condition, with later-dated specimens often showing the wear of heavy commercial use.