1792, France (1st Republic). Large Bronze 5 Sols Coin. Medallic Token Coinage! Soldiers swearing infront of France & the Constitution.
Mint Year: 1792 Denomination: 5 Sols (Cinq Sols) Mint Place: Soho (London, Great Britain) Reference: VG. 291, Maz. 145, KM-Tn31. R! Condition: Minor greenish deposits, edge-hits, digs and scratches, otherwise VF-XF! Weight: 26.84gm Diameter: 40mm Material: Bronze
Obverse: Soldiers swearing allegiance to France, who holds a copy of the Constitution. Legend: VIVRE LIBRES OU MOURIER ("Live free or die!"). Exergue: 14 JUILLET . 1790 (the year of the revolution) Above the flags: PACTE FEDERATIF ("Federal pact.")
Reverse: MEDAILLE DE CONFIANCE DE CINQ-SOLS REMBOURSABLE EN ASSIGNATS DE 50 ET AU DESSUS ("Medal of confidence (token) refundable in assignments of 50 and above.") Exergue: L'AN IV DE LA LIBERTE ("4th year of Freedom (referring to the Revolution)"). Legend: MONNERON FRERES NEGOCIANS A PARIS 1792. ("The Monneron brothers, merchants in Paris, 1792.")
One of the factors which led to the Revolution was the financial deficit of the French state: a significant difference between the country's expenses and its revenues. This shortage of money contributed to the downfall of the monarchy, while the recent invention of paper money allowed the Revolutionary government to finance its activities despite the coin shortage. Alongside the official paper notes of the Revolutionary government (known as assignats) private companies began to issue copper tokens.
Edge Inscription: DEPARTEMENS DE PARIS . RHONE ET LOIRE . DU GARD . &
Les Freres Monneron ("The Monneron Brothers") was built up in England by Matthew Boulton, thanks to the steam engine of James Watt, producing 2 and 5 sols coins in great quantities in the Soho factory in Birmingham from the end of 1791.
These pieces of necessity money eased the coinage shortage then current in France and their technical and aesthetic quality was much superiour to mediocre base metal issues produced by official sources.
In March 1792, the Monnerons went bankrupt and Pierre fled. His brother Augustin took over the business, but a law of 3 May 1792 forbade the production of money by private concerns. In September a decree forbade the commercialisation of confidence-coins. These necessity coins were in circulation until the end of 1793.
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Posted by:
anonymous 2021-08-25 |