5000 Francs

The BCEAO was established in 1959 as the successor monetary authority for the former French West African territories, and this 5000-franc note belongs to the earliest issues under that new arrangement — the dated 20 March 1961 signature pairing with Tézenas du Montcel marks the very first authorized emission. Tézenas du Montcel served as the bank's first governor, a French national in a role that would, over the following decade, gradually pass to West African appointees as the signature progression on this very series illustrates.

Henri Konan Bédié, whose name appears in the final signature variant, later became President of Côte d'Ivoire. His appearance here as a relatively junior monetary official is the kind of biographical detail that makes signature dating genuinely useful beyond mere cataloguing.