50 Francs - Bleue & Pink type 1889

One of the longest-running note designs in Banque de France history, this type remained in production for nearly four decades — an extraordinary run that generated at least eight distinct signature combinations as successive caissiers généraux and secrétaires généraux cycled through office. That breadth makes date-specific collecting far more interesting than the type designation suggests; the 1889 Bertin/Billotte examples represent founding-issue material, while the terminal Platet/Strohl dates of early 1927 come just before the design's retirement amid France's postwar monetary pressures.

Dupuis was among the leading medallists of the Third Republic, and Robert's engraving work for this series reflects the high intaglio standards the Banque de France demanded of its Paris production.