20 — Twenty Francs
The artwork
Front: Claude Debussy in three-quarter profile, hair heavy over the brow, set against a broken coastline of rock and pale sea — a nod to the composer of La Mer rather than a literal place. The engraver's small caption "CLAUDE DEBUSSY" sits along the lower edge. Left, a plain unprinted panel; above it the orange "Banque de France" cartouche, below it "VINGT FRANCS" and the serial. Signatures of the Contrôleur Général, Caissier Général and Secrétaire Général crowd the upper centre.
Back: Debussy again, larger and closer, gazing out from a terraced garden of cypresses and stone balustrades — the grounds of the Villa Medici in Rome, where he spent his Prix de Rome years. The whole side is worked in plum, ochre and dull gold, the foliage dissolving into the sky. "Banque de France" in capitals at lower left, a large 20 at upper right, and a boxed counterfeiting warning citing articles 442-1 and 442-2 of the penal code.
In circulation
The Debussy 20 francs appeared in 1980 and ran, with annual dates, to 1997 — the year on this example, and the last of the series. It was the smallest French note of its day and was never replaced by a new franc design; the euro took over in 2002, and francs could be exchanged at the Banque de France until 2012.
Details
- CurrencyFranc
- DenominationTwenty Francs
- Collectedon the France journeys, 1991–2016
- IssuerBanque de France
- Series20 francs Debussy, dated 1997
- SignatureLe Contrôleur Général, Le Caissier Général and Le Secrétaire Général
- WatermarkHead of Claude Debussy in the left-hand panel
- SecurityReverse legal notice citing articles 442-1 and 442-2 of the penal code, with penalties to thirty years and three million francs
- Dimensions140 × 75 mm