bavarikon4UPaper money in France
France was a kingdom for centuries. The French Revolution finally led to the establishment of the First French Republic in 1792. It was followed by the French Empire and finally, from 1814/1815, the Kingdom of France. After the Second Republic had been established between 1848 and 1852, another empire followed until 1870. The Third French Republic survived the longest, and was only replaced by the German occupation and the Vichy regime in 1940. The Fourth Republic, established in 1947, ended in 1958. The Fifth French Republic has existed since then.
France's eventful history is also reflected in its paper money issues. The earliest known issue of paper money is dated between 1716 and 1720. The Scot John Law (1671-1729), a national economist and banker, founded a private bank, the "Banque Générale", with the state's permission. After this bank was taken over by the state, now renamed "Banque Royale", it continued to issue banknotes, but in far too large quantities. The first major paper money inflation was the consequence, which finally ended with the collapse of the bank.
Paper money was only issued again in 1776 by the "Caisse d'Escompte". The private bank was increasingly taken over by the state and eventually closed down. With the French Revolution a new type of paper money came into circulation, the so-called "assignats". By decree of the National Assembly, government bonds called "assignats" were issued for the purchase and sale of confiscated church property. This measure was intended to restructure the highly indebted state budget. Contrary to their original function as securities, the assignats developed into paper money. However, more and more issues of assignats led to a loss in value and inflation.
The paper money system did not develop with any stability until the "Banque de France" was founded in 1800. At first, its activities were limited to the region around Paris. Its scope was gradually extended to the whole of France though. In 1848, it finally obtained the exclusive right to issue banknotes in France. Existing issuing banks were merged with it. It is still France's central bank today.
>> This collection is part of the holdings of "Paper money in Europe" of the Giesecke+Devrient Stiftung Geldscheinsammlung (Giesecke+Devrient foundation: collections of bank notes).