1000 Francs

The Banque Nationale de Belgique rarely commissioned outside printers once its own atelier was established in the early 1850s, and this note reflects that insularity — designed and engraved entirely in-house, with Pannemaker's work particularly worth noting. Adolphe-François Pannemaker was primarily known as a reproductive wood engraver of considerable standing in Paris and Brussels, a contributor to major illustrated publications of the period, and his presence on a banknote project was unusual for someone of his exhibition profile.

At 1000 Francs, this was the highest practical denomination in everyday Belgian commerce for much of the issue period, covering a span that bridged the Franco-Prussian War's economic aftershocks and Belgium's industrial boom years of the 1870s.