BankNotes4U - For collectors and researchers of banknotes, cheques and banking history

By Roger Outing.

Illustrated is the Bank of France, 10 francs, dated 1936. Or is it? The date certainly should read “1936” but it does in fact read “1636”. If this 1636 date were true it would be the oldest banknote in Europe and that would perhaps account for the condition of the note that is ‘GA’ - genuinely appallingly.

What has obviously happened is that the figure ‘6’ in the date had been accidentally inverted. So this is an error note but surely not an isolated one. The Bank of France would print thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of notes of any given date. Where are the others? This individual note clearly circulated for some considerable time, as its poor condition testifies.

This is a tricky error to spot. Few people read the date on a banknote. Those few that do are likely to be predisposed to see what they expect to see e.g. the correct date of 1936. Has any one else seen this “1636” error?

This note was sold by BankNotes4U in 2003 for 200 Euros.

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