500 Francs

The Chateaubriand 500 Francs series was printed and issued under German occupation, a circumstance that shaped everything about its production and distribution. The Banque de France continued operating throughout the war under Vichy administration, supplying notes to an economy simultaneously drained by occupation indemnity payments — France was billed 400 million francs per day to cover Wehrmacht costs, a figure that drove chronic cash shortages and accelerated note wear.

P#101A specimens in genuinely circulated grades are common for the period. The notes moved hard through a rationed, black-market economy where paper changed hands constantly.