Item 30: Fifty Pounds Assignat, French Currency, 1792 December 14
Item — Box: 16, Folder: 30
Dates
- Created: 1792 December 14
Disclaimer for Name and Subject Authorities
Some of the name and subject authority tags have been assigned by educated guessing and estimation of persons and subjects by region, age, profession, and familial relationships. They have been thoroughly researched by using primary and secondary sources available digitally, and named in each description, or in some cases linked directly to the person tag.
Access:
All series and subseries within this collection are open for research, with the exception of a few files within the Academia series that are restricted. The Academia series contains financial and sensitive institutional records from Wilkes College, and financial report records from Princeton University that will remain restricted for 80 years upon creation.
Extent
1 items
Language of Materials
From the Collection: English
Type of Material:
Paper currency.
Condition Note:
Good.
Measurements:
4 x 2.25 in.
Description:
The following item depicts an assignat, printed December 14, 1792. It was printed during the French Revolution, under the approval of the Constituent Assembly, to fund the military needs of the revolutionary war. The bill has a romanesque border going around it. In the center is an illustration of a woman dressed in Roman clothing holding laurels and in her other hand a shovel. She is likely Marianne, a symbolic figurehead of justice and Goddess of Liberty during the French Revolution. By her feet is a rooster and some hay. The base of where she is seated has the saying “LIBERTE EGALITE”, a saying originating during the Revolution meaning liberty equality.
This dollar was printed shortly after the First Republic was established as government. The First Republic was the government formed after the Monarchy was disbanded during the French Revolution. The French Revolution was a major movement by the people during a societal and political pushback against the monarchy. During this period of revolution for France, we see the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, and the execution of Louis XVI, giving rise to Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799. The assignat faced a similar history as the Continental Currency of the American Revolution, as it was overprinted with nearly no substantial investment by the Revolutionary government. As a result, the assignat faced a steadily increasing inflation as the French Revolution continued over the next decade, from 1789-1799.
Location:
France.
Transcription:
[Composed of printed and annotated text. Printed text is bolded below]
Serie 366 N.o 32 50 50 République Française Assignat de cinquante LIVRES. De la Création du 14. Dec[em]bre. 1792. l’Au premier de la République Hypotheque sur leu Domaines Nationaux.
[VERTICAL TEXT LEFT] [VERTICAL TEXT RIGHT] LA LOI PUNIT DE MORT LA NATION RECOMPENSE LE CONTREFCTEUR LE DENONCIATEUR. [The Law Punishes the Counterfeiter with Death] [The Nation Rewards the Whistleblower] {Signature} Gaistes 50 50 N.o 32 LIBERTE EGALITE serie 366
Serie 366 N.o 32 50 50 République Française Assignat de cinquante LIVRES. De la Création du 14. Dec[em]bre. 1792. l’Au premier de la République Hypotheque sur leu Domaines Nationaux.
[VERTICAL TEXT LEFT] [VERTICAL TEXT RIGHT] LA LOI PUNIT DE MORT LA NATION RECOMPENSE LE CONTREFCTEUR LE DENONCIATEUR. [The Law Punishes the Counterfeiter with Death] [The Nation Rewards the Whistleblower] {Signature} Gaistes 50 50 N.o 32 LIBERTE EGALITE serie 366
Creator
- From the Series: Pickering, Timothy, 1745-1829. (Person)
- From the Series: Pennsylvania Economy League (Organization)
- From the Series: George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820 (Person)
Repository Details
Part of the Wilkes University Archives Repository
Contact:
84 W South St.
Wilkes-Barre PA 18701 US
570-408-2000
570-408-7823 (Fax)
ask.archives@wilkes.edu
84 W South St.
Wilkes-Barre PA 18701 US
570-408-2000
570-408-7823 (Fax)
ask.archives@wilkes.edu