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100 Livres
| Issuer | Domaines Nationaux |
|---|---|
| Year | 1791 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 100 Livres |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is typeset in letterpress with a bold heading DOMAINES NATIONAUX across the upper portion, below which a central circular vignette bears a portrait bust of Louis XVI in profile. The denomination ASSIGNAT DE CENT liv. is rendered in large display type, with a text body stating the note is payable to the bearer at the Caisse de l'Extraordinaire, referencing the decrees of 16 and 17 April and 29 September 1790, and 19 June 1791. Two ornamental tablet vignettes at the lower corners carry the inscriptions Cent and 100, flanking a manuscript signature at the lower right. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse shows the full printed design of the obverse in mirror image, visible as a printed-through impression on the plain paper, with no additional design elements applied to this side. The sheet remains largely blank, with the offset letterpress text and vignettes of the face faintly readable in reverse through the thin paper stock. |
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| Comments |
The Domaines Nationaux assignats were instruments of revolutionary finance, their value theoretically backed by the confiscated lands of the Church and the Crown — biens nationaux sold off to service the Republic's debts. The 100 Livres denomination was among the most heavily circulated, and the scheme's credibility depended entirely on land sales keeping pace with note issuance. They never did.
By 1791 the printing presses were already outrunning the auctions. Counterfeiting compounded the collapse — the émigré press in Britain and the Austrian Netherlands flooded France with forgeries specifically designed to accelerate depreciation and destabilize the revolutionary government. Pick 44A predates the most acute phase of that crisis, but only just.