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50 Livres Assignat
| Issuer | Caisse de l'Extraordinaire, France |
|---|---|
| Year | 1790-1792 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 50 Livres (50 LT) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| 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 | The face bears the large letterpress heading 'DOMAINES NATIONAUX' at top, with a small circular vignette of Louis XVI in profile at upper centre-right, set within a decorative border of guilloche and floral ornaments. The central text block, printed in a combination of letterpress and script, states the assignat's value of cinquante livres and the terms of reimbursement at the Caisse de l'Extraordinaire per the decrees of April and September 1790 and June 1791. A handwritten serial number appears at lower left, a manuscript signature at lower right, and typeset denomination panels reading 'Cinquante' and '50' flank the lower portion of the note. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Watermark |
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| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The Caisse de l'Extraordinaire was not a bank in any conventional sense — it was an emergency instrument of the Revolutionary government, created specifically to manage the proceeds from the forced sale of nationalized Church and émigré properties. The assignats it issued were, in their earliest form, essentially interest-bearing bonds secured against those confiscated lands. The 50 livres denomination sits in the middle range of the series, large enough to attract forgers but small enough to circulate widely, which became a serious problem by 1791.
Gatteaux was one of the foremost medallists of the period, and his involvement gives the engraving an unusual precision for a document produced under considerable political urgency. Lorthior handled the typographic and ornamental elements. The watermark was the primary anti-counterfeiting measure — and an inadequate one, as forgery of assignats, both domestic and foreign-sponsored, contributed materially to the hyperinflationary collapse that followed.