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5 Nouveaux Francs - Victor Hugo type 1959
| Issuer | Banque de France |
|---|---|
| Year | 1959-1965 |
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| Printer | Banque de France |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 5 NF BANQUE DE FRANCE 5 NF CINQ NOUVEAUX FRANCS |
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| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Portrait watermark of Victor Hugo visible when held to light |
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| Comments |
The 5 NF was part of a wholesale renaming forced by de Gaulle's 1960 redenomination, which lopped two zeros off the old franc and created the nouveau franc — a move as much psychological as economic, designed to signal that postwar financial chaos was finished. This denomination effectively replaced the 500-franc note of the Fourth Republic overnight.
Serveau had designed banknotes for the Banque de France since the interwar period, and Marliat was among the most accomplished intaglio engravers of his generation at the Paris workshops. The collaboration was well-established long before this series.
The series ran until 1965, by which point "nouveau" was quietly dropped from everyday usage — most French simply called them francs again.