Assignat van vijftig sols, serie 3013 uitgegeven 23 mei 1793 Possibly 1793 - 1795

Curator: Well, hello! Let’s talk about this French Assignat, valued at fifty sols. Issued, according to its inscription, on May 23, 1793. I believe Nicolas Marie Gatteaux was the designer and engraver. It's paper money, of course, printed during a tumultuous time. Editor: Instantly, I’m drawn to the stern figures framing the text—goddesses, maybe? They radiate this poised, classical serenity that contrasts sharply with the currency's fragile impermanence. It feels almost... tragic, you know? All that idealism trying to stay afloat. Curator: Precisely! Note the iconography. On the left, we see a woman with a book titled “Droits de l’Homme,” the Rights of Man. On the right, Justice, holding scales. This points to a specific set of social ideals underpinning the assignat's value. A fascinating example of embedding political philosophy directly into a medium of exchange. Editor: It's clever. Art as propaganda, a constant reminder of the Republic’s foundations…yet rendered on something so easily destroyed. I mean, just look at the edges – they’re so brittle! And "la loi punit de mort le contrefacteur" – quite the stark warning. Desperate times. Curator: Indeed! The means of production are essential to this artwork’s understanding. It shows how during the revolution the production of such paper money, intended as a symbol of national unity and value, became directly intertwined with maintaining state power. The penalties reflect both the instability and desperate need for monetary control during a period of upheaval. Editor: It reminds me of found poetry; you can almost create something beautiful just by highlighting different words on it and reframing the intent: “Domaines nationaux…assignat payable…La Nation Récompense." But the real weight comes from knowing so much was at stake here. It is charged with the electricity of its time. Curator: I concur. Examining this Assignat helps one see the revolution's lofty ideals translated into very tangible and material practices. Editor: To think this fragile thing once carried hopes of a new society! Well, looking at this piece, one really feels the urgency and high stakes baked into something as mundane as money. Almost makes you want to handle it carefully, like a precious secret.