1000 Francs

Mali's first post-independence currency series was issued by a central bank established only after the country's rupture with the West African franc zone in 1962 — a politically charged monetary separation from France that Mali later reversed, rejoining the BCEAO framework in 1984. This 1967 note belongs to the interval between those two decisions, when Bamako was running its own monetary policy with limited reserves and a franc maudit that never achieved the stability its architects intended.

Thomas De La Rue's involvement was common for Francophone African states seeking credibility through a reputable printer, regardless of political alignment with Paris.