₣10 — Ten Francs
The artwork
Front: Cardinal Richelieu dominates the face, turned three-quarters in his scarlet cap and cloak, the long moustache and pointed beard of the 1630s court — the statesman of Louis XIII's reign, engraved from the familiar Philippe de Champaigne likeness. Behind him, classical architecture of the sort he built and endowed, with the Banque de France heading, the large denomination figures and the signature block of the bank's officers set into the frame.
Back: The same face again, larger and looser, floating over a wooded park: Richelieu in his red biretta, gazing left. Below and to the right, a low château of pale stone with steep slate roofs, brick chimneys, dormers and a gatehouse pavilion pierced by an arch, hedged in by dark trees. 'BANQUE DE FRANCE' top left, the figure 10 top right, and the Article 139 counterfeiting warning boxed in the lower corner.
In circulation
Issued from 1959 under the new franc reform and printed into the early 1960s, it was one of the first notes of the revalued currency. Superseded by the 10 Franc Voltaire, introduced in 1963, after which the Richelieu was steadily withdrawn from tills through the later 1960s.
Details
- CurrencyFranc (₣)
- DenominationTen Francs
- Collectedon the France journeys, 1991–2019
- IssuerBanque de France
- SeriesRichelieu, type of 1959
- SecurityBoxed legal warning citing Article 139 of the Code Pénal, threatening forced labour for counterfeiting or passing false notes