Post Your Coins And Medals Connected To The French Revolution

It is pleasant to see some action in this old thread again. I don't see a 2 decimes coin here yet, so here is one:

2 decimes, an 4 (1795-1796), Paris (A). 21.7 g, 31 mm.

Excellent!

Very nice!

Outstanding!

excellent coin Hondo

There is a 400 livres assignat on page 1 of this thread and I thought I could show another example of this paper money that was emitted during the revolutionary years.

10,000 francs assignat, France 1795. (The reverse is blank.)



Assignats were emitted from 1790 as mortgage bonds on land confiscated from the church and crown. As the need for money grew, so did the temptation to emit more assignats than could be backed by actual property. Not surprisingly, that led to a loss of confidence in the assignats' value and in 1796 their real value (what they could be exchanged for in coin) was only a few percent of the nominal value.

Originally emitted in livres, assignats were from 1795 denominated in the new currency francs, with values from 100 to 10,000 francs. These assignats were in fact the first money denominated in francs, coins came later.

It is a big note - 23x16 cm / 9"x6.5" - and a big sum: 10,000 francs (about £ 400 in contemporary British currency, or nearly 3 kg of gold), a life income for most people at that time! But, only on paper ... already at emission in January 1795, the real value of this 10,000 francs assignat was only about 2,000 francs, and one year later it was down to 50 francs.

Security details include two dry stamps (visible in the lower left and right corners). A closer look at the one to the left reveals a motif later reused for the first 5 francs coins (also shown on page 1 of this thread): Hercules flanked by Liberty and Justice. It was designed by Augustin Dupre, graveur general at the Paris Mint, originally for these assignats.

That is a fantastic assignat, erafjel!