5000 Francs - Gen. Schoelcher

The Caisse Centrale de la France d'Outre-Mer issued this note for use across French overseas territories — a single denomination circulating through wildly different economies simultaneously, from the Antilles to French Guiana. Victor Schoelcher, the French abolitionist who drafted the 1848 decree ending slavery in French colonies, lends his name to the series. Naming a high-denomination colonial currency note after him carries an irony the issuing authority appeared entirely comfortable with.

Robert Poughéon was a Prix de Rome laureate and established academic painter, an unusual choice for banknote design work. Jules Piel was among the Banque de France's most accomplished intaglio engravers of the mid-century, and the quality of the plate work here reflects that.