Banknotes & the French Revolution

Join me as I take a close look at a 50 sol note note from France in 1792. It was just after the revolution and France faced many struggles to administer a country as a republic instead of a monarchy. Louis XVI was still nominally king, but in the very next year he would literally lose his head. This note has an embossed seal featuring the king, but it shows that he ruled by law, not by divine right. The country and its people, not the elite, came first.

A banknote tells a story from a particular point of view, attempting to unite its users and inspire faith and confidence in the issuing country and its banking system. Currency only works when users will accept it in exchange and have faith that other users will do the same. It also needs to be difficult to copy so as to discourage counterfeit, and the security measures embedded within a note are always fascinating.

Note Nook is researched and presented by me, W.B. Hafford, archaeologist and economic anthropologist. It is a sub-set of my more conceptual series of money lectures, called Money Talks. The banknotes featured come from my personal collection and many are heavily worn. But circulation of a note means it has fulfilled its purpose, and wear patterns can tell us a great deal. Pristine notes may be valuable for most collectors, but for an anthropologist interested in usage and history, worn notes are often more interesting.

Supplementary imagery is drawn from Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons license.