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200 Francs - type 1847
| Issuer | Banque de France |
|---|---|
| Year | 1847-1864 |
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| Designer(s) | Designers: Étienne Huyot, Maurice Duc |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is dominated by a large central oval guilloche border enclosing the principal text, with the issuer's name BANQUE DE FRANCE in bold letterpress at the top, followed by the place and date of issue, and the denomination deux cents francs in large intaglio script. Two smaller oval vignettes with legal warning texts flank the central field at left and right, while small portrait medallions appear within foliate cartouches at the lateral extremities. At the lower border, a classical allegorical vignette renders two seated female figures flanking a decorative plinth, engraved in fine intaglio by Huyot. The left margin carries an elaborate calligraphic numeral watermark design, with signature lines for the Contrôleur, the Caissier principal, and the Secrétaire Général below the central oval. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse displays the full obverse design in mirror image, being a direct impression through the paper, confirming the single-sided intaglio printing technique employed for this issue. The guilloche oval border, allegorical vignette at the lower margin, flanking legal text medallions, and central denomination text deux cents francs are all visible in reverse orientation, with no additional independent design elements added to this side. |
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| Comments |
The type 1847 200 Francs was the first note of this denomination issued by the Banque de France following the upheaval of 1848, though the series began printing the year before those events. The revolution that toppled Louis-Philippe forced the Bank to suspend specie payments in March 1848 — a suspension that lasted until 1850 — which meant notes of this type entered circulation precisely when public confidence in paper was at its most fragile.
Huyot served as both designer and engraver, an unusual concentration of responsibility that was not standard practice for the Banque de France. The series ran through 1864, a seventeen-year production span that left serial numbering across an enormous range.