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70 Livres Assignat
| Issuer | Caisse de l'Extraordinaire, France |
|---|---|
| Year | 1790 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Livre tournois (987-1795) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | At upper centre, a circular vignette encloses a bust portrait of Louis XVI in profile within an oval medallion surround, executed in copperplate intaglio. The heading 'DOMAINES NATIONAUX' is printed in large letterpress across the upper portion, with the body text combining copperplate script and typeset lettering detailing the legislative authority of the issue. At lower left, a decorative cartouche in script reads 'Soixante & dix', while at lower right an octagonal guilloche panel displays the numeral '70', flanked by the serial number and a manuscript signature. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse carries no independent printed design; the sheet was printed on one side only, and the thin paper stock allows a strong offset impression of the obverse to show through in mirror image. The 'DOMAINES NATIONAUX' heading, the royal portrait vignette, and the body text are all discernible in reverse, a characteristic and well-documented feature of French Revolutionary-era assignat production. |
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| Comments |
The 70 livres denomination was peculiar from the start — a non-standard value chosen specifically to complicate counterfeiting by making it harder to produce convincing fakes at a round, familiar amount. Issued by the Caisse de l'Extraordinaire, the body established to manage assets seized from the Church, these assignats were theoretically backed by nationalized ecclesiastical lands, a guarantee that eroded rapidly as the Revolutionary government printed far beyond what those holdings could support.
Gatteaux and Lorthior's engraving work was among the more sophisticated applied to early assignat production, though it proved insufficient against the flood of forgeries — both domestic and foreign, the latter including deliberate British counterfeiting operations intended to destabilize French finances.