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100 Livres Assignat
| Issuer | Assemblée Nationale (France) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1790-1791 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 100 Livres (100 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 |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is set within a decorative engraved border with ornamental corner devices and lateral panels bearing the denomination numeral 100. A circular medallion portrait of King Louis XVI in right-facing profile, legend LOUIS XVI ROI DES FRANÇOIS around the rim, is positioned centrally at the top between the large letterpress heading DOMAINES NATIONAUX. Two ornate vignette cartouches appear at the lower portion of the note, the left inscribed CENT and the right bearing the numeral 100, both surrounded by foliate guilloche work. The body of the note carries the full statutory text of issue in mixed roman and italic letterpress, with the heading strip at top reading ASSIGNAT DE LA CRÉATION DU 19 JUIN 1791. |
|---|---|
| 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 | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Circular watermark reading LA LOI ET LE ROI (The Law and the King), visible on the paper stock |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The 100 Livres assignat of 1790–91 belongs to the earliest phase of assignat issue, when the instrument was still technically a bond — interest-bearing, backed by confiscated Church property (the biens nationaux), and not yet the inflationary paper currency it would become. The transition from bond to banknote happened faster than the Assemblée intended. Within two years, over-issuance had gutted its value, and by 1796 the assignat system had collapsed entirely.
Gatteaux handled the die engraving while Lorthior contributed to the broader plate work — both were accomplished craftsmen working under considerable political pressure to produce something resistant to counterfeiting. The watermark was the primary security measure, relatively sophisticated for the period. Counterfeiting was nonetheless rampant, and the royalist presses in particular flooded France with fakes as a deliberate act of economic warfare.