₣500 — Five Hundred Francs
The artwork
Front: Blaise Pascal, chin in hand, hair to the shoulders — the mathematician and moralist as the eighteenth century liked to imagine him. Behind his left shoulder the Tour Saint-Jacques in Paris, the Gothic tower where Pascal repeated his barometric experiments on air pressure; to the right, the chapel and outbuildings of Port-Royal des Champs. "BANQUE DE FRANCE" above, "CINQ CENTS FRANCS" below, with the date C.6-2-1986.C and three officers' signatures under their titles: Contrôleur Général, Caissier Général, Secrétaire Général.
Back: The same head again, hand raised to the temple in the attitude of a man thinking — the engraver's conceit of putting the portrait twice on one note. Behind, the buildings of the abbey of Port-Royal des Champs: a domed pavilion to the left, a steepled church with a clock face to the right, joined by low arcading. A pale oval panel at the centre right carries the watermark, with the counterfeiting warning printed along the foot.
In circulation
The Pascal 500 was introduced in 1969 and printed with successive dates into the early 1990s, making it the long-serving top denomination of the franc. It gave way to the 500 francs Pierre and Marie Curie from 1995, and the franc itself was retired from circulation with the arrival of euro cash in 2002.
Details
- CurrencyFranc (₣)
- DenominationFive Hundred Francs
- Collectedon the France journeys, 1991–2019
- IssuerBanque de France
- Series500 francs "Pascal", type 1968; this note dated 6 February 1986
- WatermarkHead of Blaise Pascal
- SecurityPrinted warning citing Article 139 of the Penal Code, threatening life imprisonment for forging, using or importing counterfeit notes
- Dimensions181 × 97 mm
- SignatureLe Contrôleur Général, Le Caissier Général and Le Secrétaire Général