50 francs 1961
Market Prices
19 salesAbout This Note
This is a pristine example of the 1961 Luxembourg 50 Francs (Pick P-51), graded UNC, featuring Grand Duchess Charlotte in an oval portrait on the obverse and a detailed rural agricultural landscape with harvest workers and village church on the reverse. The note exhibits excellent color preservation with cream and pink toning on the front, crisp engraving throughout, and no visible wear, creases, or stains, making it a desirable example for collectors of mid-20th century European currency.
Common. While this note shows strong collector demand evidenced by eBay sales ranging from $5.57 to $123.50 depending on grade, the catalog value for UNC condition is listed at $20 (2019), and uncirculated examples regularly trade in the $48-$82 range on the secondary market. The consistent availability of multiple graded examples in the PMG population report and the prevalence of circulation data indicate this was a standard circulation issue with substantial print runs. Notes in this condition are desirable but not scarce.
Issued on February 1, 1961, during the reign of Grand Duchess Charlotte, this banknote reflects Luxembourg's post-war recovery and agricultural heritage. The reverse design depicts rural farming scenes with combine harvesters and village settlement with church steeple, symbolizing the importance of agriculture to Luxembourg's economy during this period when the nation was transitioning from an industrial to a more diversified modern economy.
The obverse features a formal portrait of Grand Duchess Charlotte positioned on the right side within an ornate oval frame, rendered in black and white engraving style with period-appropriate earrings and formal presentation. The center displays an elaborate decorative rosette pattern with fine guilloche work. The reverse depicts a comprehensive rural agricultural landscape representing Luxembourg's farming heritage, including two workers operating farm equipment (likely a combine harvester), scattered farm buildings, a prominent village church with steeple in the middle distance, rolling cultivated fields with hedgerows, and grazing cattle—all rendered with meticulous engraved detail. Decorative borders with repeating text frame both sides.
FRONT: 'GRAND-DUCHÉ DE LUXEMBOURG' (Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg); '50 CINQUANTE FRANCS' (50 Fifty Francs); '1 FÉVRIER 1961' (February 1, 1961); 'LA CAISSE GÉNÉRALE DE L'ÉTAT' (The General Treasury of the State); 'LE MINISTRE DES FINANCES' (The Minister of Finance); Serial number 'C978180' (repeated); Repeating border text 'CINQUANTE FRANCS' (Fifty Francs). BACK: 'GRAND-DUCHÉ DE LUXEMBOURG' (Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg); '50' denomination markers in all four corners.
Intaglio/engraving process, typical of high-value banknotes from this era. The fine line work, detailed portraiture, guilloche patterns, and complex landscape engraving are characteristic of traditional steel-plate intaglio printing. The Luxembourg notes of this period were produced by established European security printers, likely using multi-plate color separation techniques to achieve the brown-on-multicolored underprint effect noted in catalog references.
This specimen appears to be Pick P-51a based on catalog notation, though visual analysis alone cannot definitively distinguish between P-51, P-51a, P-51cts, and P-51s variants without examination of signature blocks, printing dates, or technical printing characteristics. The serial number C978180 and issue date of 1 février 1961 are consistent with the primary 1961 issue. Further research on signature varieties or printing characteristics would be needed to confirm the exact sub-variety.
