FRANCE

The French republic is the largest country in western Europe and has, throughout the ages been a colonial power, which has diminished in the last few decades. It's capital city is Paris. France was and is one of the main powers behind the European Union and its common exchange currency, the Euro, which it adopted in 1999.
Monetary Units:
1 Nouveau Franc = 100 old francs (1960-62)
1 franc = 100 centimes (1962 - 2002)
1 euro = 100 cents (2002 onward)

I have said this many time before but I love French Francs. I think they are some of the most artistic of all the banknotes. what i am going to do here in this section is take the notes in order of the decades - 1940's, 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's . Usually I would only scan one side of the note if there was a lot of them to save time and space but I think these notes deserve the space!!!

So above we have 3 notes from the 1940's. first the 100 franc note from 1947. This note issued just 2 years after the second world war, has a lady on the front carrying a farm implement (hoe?)with some oxen in the background and a harbour scene on the reverse (you can just see the boat slightly off centre).

The Second note is a 20 Franc note from 1942.This note was issued during the Nazi occupation of france and right up until 1950 with varying signatures this note has a Breton fisherman with his sou'wester on. the reverse has two women with a small child with a Breton calvary to the right. This is one of my favorites, i love how everyone, even the fisherman and the child, has bright red lipstick on !!

The Third note, from 1946, is the 10 franc note. again this note was issued from 1941 - 1949. before i researched the note I thought the man on the front of the note was some sort of clergyman - a monk or a priest but it turns out that it's a French Miner!! while on the back its a farm girl with a small baby.

On to the 1960's now with this 5 franc note issued in 1967. It features Louis Pasteur on both the front and reverse, the front also has a picture of the Pasteur institute, while the reverse has medical instruments. what do you think the guy on the left of the reverse is doing? apparently he is wrestling with a Rabid dog and i'm not too sure what the bunnies are doing either!!

From the 70's comes this 10 franc note (1977). this note is dedicated to Hector Berlioz, a french 19th century romantic composer famous for his Symphonie Fantastique.

The buildings in the background are, on the front, the Chapelle des Invalides and , on the reverse, the Villa Medici, in Rome.

From 1988, this 50 franc note sports a man in a very flamboyant hat.  He is a french rococo portrait painter with the equally flamboyant name of Maurice Quentin de la Tour. The buildings in the background are , on the front, the Palace of Versailles, and on the reverse, St Quentin city hall.

Finally, two notes from the 1990's. the first one is a 50 franc note from 1994, with the theme of Antoine de Saint-Exupery who is pictured on the right of the front side of the note and features a character from one of his books "The Little Prince" on both sides, as well as his other love being an aviator.An unusual point on this note is that the signatures are on the reverse of the note.

The second note is the 20 franc note from 1990, with this rather trendy young man on it. he is the impressionist composer Claude Debussy  one of his masterpieces is depicted in the background - La Mer, (the sea)