Assignats

Paper money i ued by Government during uring the French Revolution, based on estates that formerly belonged to the clergy; therefore an a ignment of national property, and at first called municipal paper. The first i ue was in April, 1790, for 400,000,000 francs; by September, 1792, the amount had increased to 5,000,000,000 fr. The Government sought to maintain their value by reducing the quantity, and 840,000,000 fr. were burned; but not long afterward the need of money was so great that new i ues were made, exceeding 20,000,000,000 fr. before 1796. They continued to decline in value until they were abandoned in 1796 and partly replaced by mandats. More than 45,000,000,000 had been i ued.