100 Francs

The Banque de Rouen was one of the fifteen so-called "departmental banks" authorized by Napoleon's law of April 1803 — the same legislation that established the Banque de France's exclusive privilege in Paris. These regional institutions operated independently but were always uneasy competitors with Paris, and most were eventually absorbed into the Banque de France by 1848.

Early 19th-century provincial French notes relied heavily on embossed dry stamps rather than complex intaglio printing as the primary fraud deterrent — a vulnerability that counterfeiting rings in Normandy exploited repeatedly during this period. Cotton substrate was universal; what varied was quality of pulp sourcing, and Rouen's textile industry gave the city unusually direct access to rag stock.

Pick 177 survivors are extremely rare, with institutional holdings in Paris and Rouen accounting for nearly all documented examples.