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500 Francs Pascal, type 1968
| Issuer | Banque de France |
|---|---|
| Year | 1968-1993 |
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| Engraver(s) | Obverse: Robert Armanelli Reverse: Claude Durrens |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 500 BANQUE DE FRANCE 500 CINQ CENTS FRANCS |
| Reverse description | Intaglio bust of Blaise Pascal occupies the center of the note, set against a landscape vignette of the Abbey of Port-Royal rendered in fine engraving. The denomination "500" appears in both upper corners, with the issuer's title across the top and the full anti-counterfeiting legal warning in small letterpress text along the lower margin. |
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| Comments |
The longest-running note in Banque de France's modern history, the 500 Francs Pascal remained in production for twenty-five years across eleven distinct signature combinations — an operational lifespan unusual even by French standards. The Chamalières facility, which the Banque de France established specifically to handle its intaglio printing operations, produced every example of this series from first issue through the final 1993 dates.
Blaise Pascal's selection as the subject reflected a conscious postwar push to anchor French currency iconography to intellectual rather than political figures. The engraving work, split between Armanelli on the obverse and Durrens on the reverse, is among the finer examples of French taille-douce printing from the period.
Withdrawn from circulation in January 1999, the note retained legal tender status through 31 December 1998 — the last full year before the euro transition locked in exchange rates.