500 Francs

The Institut d'Émission d'Outre-Mer was the Paris-based authority that handled currency for French overseas territories after decolonization — a deliberate arrangement that kept monetary policy firmly anchored to the Banque de France rather than ceded to newly independent administrations. This note circulated across multiple Pacific territories simultaneously, including New Caledonia, French Polynesia, and Wallis and Futuna, all sharing the same issue without territory-specific overprinting.

The print run spans over two decades, which accounts for considerable variation in paper quality and ink saturation across the series. Pick 60 is the last signature variety before the denomination was redesigned in the early 1990s.