Catalog
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| Issuer | Banque de France |
|---|---|
| Year | 2001 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Cotton paper |
| Size | Log in to see details |
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| 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 |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Plain pink and orange guilloche underprint without a central vignette, serving as the colour trial backing. The diagonal red overprint "NO VALUE" appears across the surface, with the placeholder serial number "000" at lower right. |
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| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Watermark |
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| Comments |
This is a Banque de France internal specimen produced to showcase Maurice Ravel as a candidate design for the 200 euro denomination — a proposal that never advanced. The European Central Bank's eventual decision to use anonymous architectural motifs rather than national figures effectively killed every country-specific submission of this kind. France had a strong tradition of honoring composers and artists on its francs, and the Ravel pitch reflects that instinct colliding directly with the ECB's pan-European neutrality policy.
The watermark is the sole documented security feature on this échantillon, consistent with its status as a presentation sample rather than a production-ready proof. Guitou — the pseudonym of designer Guy Georget — had worked on late-series French franc notes before the euro transition made that entire body of work redundant.