Five décimes, 'the regeneration of France'

A large copper coin bearing Régénération française, the regeneration of France. It belongs to the line of metal cast from the melted bronze of church bells. In 1796, on the Place Vendôme in Paris, the printing plates of the assignats were smashed in public, and paper money died as an institution. Paper died and metal alone remained. In that contrast stands this copper, born from bells and left alive.