5000 Francs - Terre & Mer type 1949

The 5000 Franc "Terre & Mer" was among the highest denominations in postwar French circulation, issued through a period of persistent inflationary pressure that steadily eroded its real purchasing power — by the mid-1950s, 5000 francs was a respectable but no longer extraordinary sum. The engraving work was divided across multiple members of the Beltrand family: Georges Beltrand and his son Georges Léon Égalité Beltrand handled portions of the obverse, while Camille Beltrand took the reverse — an unusual concentration of a single artistic dynasty on one note.

The series ran across four distinct signature combinations, with Gargam as caissier principal throughout the entire print run, a continuity that spans eight years and four changes in bank governance above him.