Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
20 Francs - Caisse d'échange de Rouen
| Issuer | Caisse d'échange de Rouen |
|---|---|
| Year | 1801-1803 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 190 × 88 mm |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Upper left carries an octagonal letterpress vignette enclosing an allegorical female figure pouring coins from a cornucopia, set within a decorative scrollwork border. The central text field presents the denomination and payability clause in a combination of roman and italic typefaces, with VINGT FRANCS rendered in large display type. At centre-bottom a circular monogram seal is flanked by manuscript annotations and a cashier's signature, with a diagonal cancellation overprint reading 'Annulé' across the face; the printer's imprint 'Periaux, typ.' appears at lower right. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Les Bureaux seront ouverts tous les jours de 9 heures à 2 et de 4 à 6. BON POUR VINGT FRANCS EN MONNAIE, PAYABLE A ROUEN, RUE DU FARDEAU, No 13. A vue nous paierons au porteur VINGT FRANCS en Monnaie de Billon, Cuivre ou Cloche, au cours de ce jour, comme nous les avons reçus. ROUEN, 1er Frimaire an 12. Bon pour Vingt francs. JACQUES La caisse sera fermée les jours de Fêtes nationales et les Dimanches. Periaux, type |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The Caisse d'échange de Rouen was one of several short-lived regional discount and exchange houses that briefly proliferated across France during the Consulate period, filling the credit vacuum left by revolutionary monetary chaos before the Banque de France consolidated its grip on note issuance. Napoleon's law of April 1803 — which granted the Banque de France its monopoly and set the stage for the suppression of competing institutions — effectively ended operations for houses like this one within months of that legislation passing.
Périaux was the dominant commercial printer in Rouen at the time, handling official and semi-official print work throughout Normandy. His imprint here is unsurprising given the issuer's location, though it tells us nothing about the note's security printing quality, which was rudimentary by any standard of the period.