500 Francs

Mali's 500 Francs of 1960 is one of the more geographically surprising notes of the early independence period. Státní Tiskárna Cenin — the Czechoslovak state security printer in Prague — was an unlikely choice for a newly independent West African republic, but Cold War alignment opened doors that Western European printers sometimes could not. Several francophone African states turned to Eastern Bloc printers in the early 1960s, partly on ideological grounds, partly because the terms were favorable.

Pick 3 is scarce. The Malian franc was short-lived; Mali rejoined the West African franc zone in 1967, and most of its independent-currency notes were withdrawn and destroyed.