200 French Francs - 1989 Montesquieu

French Franc - former national currency of France until the adoption of the euro in 2002.

Euro exchange rate: 200 francs are the equivalent of 30 euros 49 euro cents (fixed rate of 6.55957 francs for 1 euro)

  Obverse: Portrait of French writer, Charles Louis de Secondat (Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu) (marble bust of Montesquieu by Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne), right next to the coat of arms of La Brede Secondat.

On the left side, you can see an allegorical female figure hold a shield symbolizing the Law and a badge symbolizing his masterwork "L'Esprit des Lois" ("The Spirit of Laws" 1748), the major work of the philosopher. We also note two raised dots to facilitate recognition of the banknote by the blind.

Reverse: the same head of Montesquieu and the statue of Sulla. Background in a Persian style; An evocation of the "Lettres Persanes" (Persian Letters) (1721); "Dialogue de Sylla et dEucrate" (A Dialogue between Sylla and Eucrates) (1724); The Château de la Brède castle (Gironde) where Montesquieu was born;

Watermark: the same portrait of Montesquieu.

The dimensions are 172 mm x 92 mm.

The dominant colors are green tinged brown.

The design is the work of by artist Pierrette Lambert, who had already created design the 5 francs Pasteur and 50 francs Racine, and engravers Jacques and Claude Jubert Durrens.

THIS IS A BIG NOTE !