Catalog
10 Livres Banque Royale
| Issuer | Banque Royale |
|---|---|
| Year | 1720 |
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| In circulation to | 1720 |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Dix livres Tournois La Banque promet payer au Porteur à vüe Dix livres Tournois, valeur reçeüe. A Paris le premier Janvier mil sept cens vingt. Vü p.r le S.r Fenellon Giraudeau Signé p.r le S.r Bourgeois Delanauze Controllé p.r le S.r Dureyeft Granet Banque Royale |
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| Protection type | Dry stamp |
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| Comments |
The Banque Royale was John Law's rebranded vehicle after the Regent Philippe d'Orléans nationalized his original Banque Générale in 1718. By early 1720, Law's Mississippi Company scheme was already unraveling — overissue of notes against wildly inflated share prices had created an inflationary spiral the bank could not control. Notes of this type were being printed in volumes that bore no relationship to any underlying reserve, and Law himself was forced to flee France by December of that year.
The dry stamp was the primary authentication device, applied post-printing to validate individual notes — a thin defense given the institutional chaos surrounding issuance.