ABOUT THE focused museum visits AFTER YOUR VISIT 6th of November 2018 EXHIBITION Open to all, 30mn, every Monnaie de Paris shop: 24th of February 2019 other Thursday, 1pm Wednesday the 12th Open Tuesday to Sunday, of December: guided visit demonstrations of 10:30 am – 7:30 pm in French by curator the art of engraving The 11 Conti café is open Dominique Antérion Wednesday, Saturday 14 -18 and Sunday from 3 to 5pm from Tuesday to Sunday. Thursday the 20th (free with the admission Thursday to Saturday of December at 1pm: ticket) until midnight. Brunch 30 minute visit focusing every Saturday and Sunday OR THE THIRD FRONT on ‘Currency and the First For groups: guided tours World War’, led by curator or independent groups, Dominique Antérion on reservation Our partners Practical information 11 CONTI MUSEUM and booking at billetterie @monnaiedeparis.fr All visits are in French. For visits in English, Opening hours: Tuesday booking is required. Please to Sunday, 11am – 7pm. call +33 (0)1 40 46 57 57 Open late on Wednesday until 9pm.Ticket desk museum visits closes 30 minutes before Open to all (children from the exhibitions close the age of 12), 90 mn, Saturday and Sunday, 11 am 11 Conti – Monnaie de Paris 11, quai de Conti family museum visits 75006 Paris Adults and children (from the age of 5), 60mn, Sunday, 3pm architectural visits Open to all (children from the age of 12), 60mn, Sunday, 5pm.

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Since 2002, museums in have the other. Yet neither could have held . Everything seemed to be banks. As of March 1915, the issuing been obliged to comply with a new if a third, monetary front had not been going well. Yet political tensions were of coins was limited, increasing the law regarding decennial inventory established before the outbreak of the rising. Ever since the 1870 defeat against shortage effect at a local level. As for checking, a process which verifies war! The exhibition seeks to highlight Prussia, France had been preparing gold that had to ensure the credibility that the condition of collections the monetary transformations which for revenge and its expenditure on arms ofFrance, it needed to be taken out correspond to what is written in occured in France as a result of the continued to increase. A secret plan was of woollen stockings! inventory registers. The Musée du conflict. It also focuses in particular drawn up, according to which, in the 11 Conti – labeled “Musée de France” – on the gradual demonetisation of gold event of a conflict, the convertibility The “Gold Campaign” is no exception and has already and then , as well as the increase of gold, as well as the progressive “In order to bring forward a victorious checked more than 120,000 objects. in the use of paper . Beyond this, conversion of gold and silver coins end to the war, exchange your gold Although a lengthy and tedious the exhibition provides a perspective to notes of the same value, would be for ”, proclaim posters! process, it provides the opportunity on German productions of the same suspended. Everything seemed to be Gold coins “au coq” became players for conservation teams to inspect period, which could easily be qualified ready on the French side! On the 3rd in a propaganda campaign intended the entire collection. This is what led as atypical. of August 1914, declared war to defeat the enemy. For this reason, to the unearthing of the Monnaie on France. Everyone thought that it and while the soldiers were shedding de Paris’ collection of 26,150 paper 1. THE WAR EFFORT would be a lightning war… their blood, Abel Faivre’s famous poster money, in particular a significant “Give your Gold for France” is an number of items which date from 1918 France: public war-related The relocation of workshops extraordinary statement. Soldiers will 1880 to 1930. The exhibition, a result expenditure amounts to nearly 150 billion and new forms of money often sacrifice more than gold... of the inventory checking process, . How was the conflict financed? To prevent enemy advances, the intends to highlight the monetary And what impact did this have on production of metallic coins – which up War bonds and war loans transformations that occurred during the everyday circulation of money? until then occured at the Monnaie “Because France must be rich to be the 1914-1918 conflict. Objects inform War bonds and the “Gold Campaign” de Paris Hotel - was relocated in 1914 strong” - posters proclaim - the French us about their times and the everyday played a key role. to Rochefort (Charente-Maritime) can now invest in war bonds issued lives of citizens… and Casltelsarrasin (Tarn-et-Garonne). by the Treasury. With values ranging The circulation of money in France By decree, dated the 10th of July 1914, from 100 to 1000 francs, these bonds There are two fronts which mark the in 1914 all types of centime (struck in copper were valid for 3 to 12 months and paid Great War. The first, military and On the eve of the First World War, gold then copper-nickel) decreased in weight, 5% that was payable in advance! bloody, held by soldiers in the trenches, and silver circulated on a daily basis as demonstrated by the famous 10 In the absence of alternative deals, the sea and air. The second, “from behind”, and were vectors of emblematic and 25 “coins with holes” signed success was immediate: between 1914 laborious, and held by miners, workers symbols: the rooster of the engraver by Lindauer. However, France needed and 1918, 30 billion francs was raised. and peasants. In this trench warfare Chaplain on 10 and 20 franc coins and a strong franc, in particular in order Alexandre Ribot, Minister of Finance, of attrition, each front works to help Oscar Roty’s female sower on 1 and 2 to obtain loans from Anglo-Saxon also advocates the launch of so-called “consolidation” bonds. This was another ties, with the implicit agreement of legal context and its circulation was only detention camps, ticket-tokens helped success, with the fundraising in 1918 the State, came together to confront tolerated by the authorities. However, to improve the daily life of prisoners totaling nearly 55 billion francs! The the problem, thus relieving the State unlike the occupied zone’s communal by enabling them to purchase tobacco press was not wrong in calling Ribot, of the burden. , these tokens clearly represent or letter-paper. at the head of a real “army of savings”, the split of legal payments made at the “Generalissimo of the French army’s The situation in the occupied zone Bank of France in either cash or in war The exchange of tokens billions”. In the ten departments fully or partially bonds. The Bank of France did not The end of 1918: gold reserve had not occupied from 1914 to 1918, the create money out of nowhere, the bonds reached the 20% of the fiduciary mass* 2. “PAPER PLEASE, PAPER !” continued to issue coins. were of an equivalent value to the in circulation! The metal cover was FROM COINS AND NOTES From August 1914, Nancy, then Lille existing money. The Bank of France’s insufficient in restoring the convert- TO MONEY TOKENS and Roubaix launched the issuing privilege remained intact. Ultimately, ibility of the franc to its prior forms. of “Coupon money”. These cities were between August 1914 and May 1924, And the return of the financial supply “Paper please, paper!” was the appeal quickly followed by most others in the the date of the last issue, nearly 668 consisted of awaiting payments that launched by Louis Latzarus at the end occupied area. As these local currencies million francs in emergency money were were too big on the state. Coins were, of his article “The strike”, published had no counter value (legal monetary issued by 124 (out of 150) Chambers. and were to remain, fiduciary, with no in the newspaper L’Avenir. Although equivalent), they were monetary Cardboard and aluminum tokens were return to the gold standard. These dated 1920, this appeal bears witness creations based exclusively on trust manufactured at the end of the war, emergency forms of money were to the recurrent lack of small coins since between users and traders. It is and indeed several years following the nevertheless gradually reimbursed the beginning of the conflict. A shortage important to remember that in 1916, end of the conflict. The coin stamps (and cancelled out by punch holes so glaring that as of the 1st of August the occupying forces stipulated that patented FYP (“Fallait y penser”) which or stamps) in official currency. It was 1914, sales could no longer take place tokens were to be issued on the scale translates to “Had to think of it” is not until 1926 (with a law passed on on credit. All purchases had to be made of communal unions. particularly striking! the 13th of January) that the emergency in cash. Wages were paid daily in small forms of money were permanently change. Out of necessity, local authori- The situation in the free zone Food vouchers prohibited from circulation, in favour In the free zone, it was mainly the In addition to emergency money, food of the state coins whose circulation, Chambers of Commerce who managed vouchers also existed. These cardboard which was already effective, was the future of paper money. Limoges, tickets were distributed by organisa- to become exclusive from then on. Paris and Lyon led the way in August tions, (the Comity for Relief in 1914. All of France – including its for example), in charge of helping feed colonies – was affected by the phenom- the civil or military population, whether enon... Although the official existence free or in detention camps. Other *Established on the basis of an economic equivalent of this local currency was adopted by tickets, issued by small businesses, (investment and exchanges) and not on the basis 1 the State, this did not take place in any existed for smaller exchanges. As for the of a precious metal equivalent

3. THE LEGENDARY ART the Hussiten-Kirschfest, a celebration banknotes, the German and Austrian OF NOTGELD commemorating the siege of the city issuing bodies produced money made by the Hussites in 1432. The facts from selected materials that do not Far from a vision of crisis and misfor- recalled in a song by K.-F.Seyferth suggest any sort of crisis: banknotes tune, the German and Austrian Notgeld written in 1832 and Walter Hege uses made of fabric, wood, coin tokens made provides a different view of the emer- to illustrate, in 1920, the series of of glazed earthenware or gency money. In addition to the quality 12 Notgeld of the city. As for Poβneck’s enhanced with fine gold are some of the engraving (xylography, chisel banknotes, they echo Goethe’s Hermann astonishing examples. The “collector” 2 on copper, etching or laid paper), there and Dorothea (1797), which was implications of these objects, confirmed is flair, style, colour, and a deep sense notes, first issued during the war, are supposed to have taken place in the by their fragility, are evident, as much of exaltation and a national narrative. very similar to the French equivalents, city, and which highlights the work as they portray an industry already These forms of money are, not without both in their mode of issuing and in values and virtues of the bourgeoisie. in full recovery. reason, treated with special care by their aesthetics. However, from 1922- the authorities. 1923 the phenomenon surprisingly Germany and its borders Curators: started changing. In order to avoid The banknotes do not fail to raise the Dominique Antérion The hyperinflation of Weimar exchanging their notgeld for legal question of the unity of the German Axelle Janiak Republic (1918 - 1933) currency, cities (the major issuers) Empire in the aftermath of the conflict. 1918, the end of the war looms and with by underlining the quality and beauty References to plebiscites are abundant it, the defeat of Germany. Economic of the banknotes, encouraged citizens – imposed by the Treaty of Versailles collapse awaits. To be able to repay its to keep them! Notes thus emerged with (the 28th of June 1919) – which allows debt, the Weimar Republic (established a graphic quality and thematic origi- populations (and nationalities) living on the 9th of November 1918) promoted nality that was unparalleled at the time. near the border to decide whether or not a hyperinflation system. “Playing” with In most cases notes of the same value they belong to German territory: Slevig, the printing of notes, the State printed but of differing designs were issued, Süderbrarup with regard to neighboring thousands, millions, even billions of some even with “collector” pockets! and Johannisburg to . Marks… A Mark that is no longer worth The banknotes also evoke the African anything! Iconic series dream that Germany developed in These notes often work in series. Cameroon, Togo, Namibia, Rwanda… “Collector” banknotes The Erfurt (1921) series mentioned many colonies that the same Treaty of Figures: It was in this context that the aston- pertains to the fourth centenary of Versailles will redistribute to the victors. Cover: “Give your gold for France”, detail of poster ishing phenomenon of the Notgeld Luther’s arrival in 1521 before the Diet by Abel Faivre, 1915 1. 1 franc note, not dated, (German and Austrian emergency coins of Worms. The iconography of the Curious materials for banknotes of Marseille and banknotes) developed. These local remarkable Naumburg notes evoke Like the vividly coloured paper 2. Eisenach’s Notgeld, 1921