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5 Livres Assignat
| Issuer | Caisse de l'Extraordinaire |
|---|---|
| Year | 1791-1792 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 96 × 63 mm |
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| Obverse description | Letterpress-printed note within a decorative black border composed of guilloche scrollwork, fleur-de-lis ornaments, and diamond-shaped cartouches at the sides. The central field carries the large typeset legend in a combination of roman and italic letterforms, with two oval vignette tablets at the bottom — the left inscribed 'Cinq Liv.' with the engraver's name 'GATTEAUX' below, and the right bearing the numeral '5' flanked by floral devices. A handwritten serial number and manuscript signature appear in the central area. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Reverse is unprinted, with the obverse impression visible in ghosted show-through. The watermark design — a diamond frame decorated with scrollwork enclosing the value '5 ₶' — is discernible across the plain paper surface. |
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| Comments |
The Caisse de l'Extraordinaire was not a bank but a revolutionary fiscal instrument — established in 1789 to manage the proceeds from the forced sale of nationalized Church properties. Assignats began as interest-bearing bonds backed by that confiscated land, but by the time this 5 Livres note was issued, the connection to real assets was already eroding. The government had printed far more paper than land it could sell.
Gatteaux was a medal engraver by training, which shows in the precision of the typographic work. The watermark was among the few meaningful anti-counterfeiting measures available; forgery of small-denomination assignats was nonetheless rampant by 1792.