Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
500 Francs - Chateaubriand type 1945
| Issuer | Banque de France |
|---|---|
| Year | 1945-1953 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 500 Francs |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Three-quarter portrait of the writer François-René de Chateaubriand at left center, shown in a pensive pose with a lyre resting at his side, rendered in intaglio engraving against a dark guilloche underprint. The large-denomination numeral '500' appears in the upper corners flanking the central letterpress inscription 'CINQ CENTS FRANCS' in bold roman capitals. Three signature facsimiles — Le Contrôleur Général, Le Caissier Général, and Le Secrétaire Général — appear at lower right, with the date printed at top center. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Watermark |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The Chateaubriand 500 Francs was introduced in mid-1945 as France rebuilt its monetary infrastructure following occupation and liberation. During the German occupation, the Banque de France had been forced to issue currency under Vichy authority and to finance Wehrmacht costs — the postwar series represented a deliberate break, though the Bank itself had printed continuously throughout and the institutional machinery was the same. Poughéon was a Prix de Rome laureate whose involvement gave the note a distinctly academic engraving tradition.
The three signature combinations spanning 1945 to 1953 reflect successive changes in the Bank's governing personnel — the Favre-Gilly and Gargam caissier signatures are the clearest dating markers for collectors. Early dates from the July–November 1945 window are notably more common than the 1952–53 Gouin d'Ambrières issues, which closed out the type before the Molière 500 Francs superseded it.