Assignats

Assignats, paper bills issued by the French revolutionary government from 1789 to 1797 promising to pay various sums to the holders, using confiscated Church and Crown lands and the estates of the Royalist refugees as security. The first issue amounted to 400 million francs. In 1789 the assignats paid interest at 5 per cent. In 1790 the assignats were declared legal tender, and issues thereafter earned no interest. Inflation was inevitable, and by 1796 the total issue was 45.5 billion francs exclusive of forgeries, but their value had depreciated to the rate of 30 assignats to 1 of coin. At this value they were converted into 800 million francs' worth of land warrants, or mandats territoriaux, which constituted a mortgage on all public lands. The floating of these mandats was unsuccessful, and they were finally redeemed by the state at one-seventieth of their face value. By March 1796, a 1 franc piece was equivalent to 300 francs in paper money. In 1797 assignats and land warrants stopped being issued, and France returned to metal currency.