Assignat

History

Confiscation of the goods of the clergy

A few months after the Revolution, the public purses are catastrophic. To regulate this problem, the deputy Talleyrand with the idea to confiscate the goods of the Clergy. Thus the November 2nd 1789, the constituent National Assembly decides that all the goods of the clergy will be “ placed at the disposal of the nation ”. These goods will be henceforth national goods, intended to be put at the biddings to fill the cases of the State.

This contribution of inheritance, evaluated to approximately 3 billion books constitutes a considerable profit for public finances. The setting on sale is entrusted to the extraordinary Caisse, created the December 19th.

The problem is that the sale of so many goods takes time, at least a year. It is a time too much long, the Caisses of the State are then empty and the bankruptcy will arrive well before all is not sold.

Thus is decided to create, the very same day creation of the extraordinary Case, tickets whose value is assigned on the goods of the clergy. The assignat was born.

Beginnings

The operation of the assignat is simple: as it is impossible to sell immediately the goods of the clergy, of the tickets will be emitted, which will represent the value of these goods. Any person who wishes to buy national goods must do it with assignats, it is thus necessary for very that the private individuals buy assignats at the State, thus the money re-entry is done. Once the sale carried out, of return in the hands of the State, the assignats must be destroyed. Thus, the money re-entry fresh is much faster than if it had to be waited until the goods are truly sold.

The first issued tickets have a value of 1000 pounds. A so important value does not intend them to be used as tickets for the population, but to being thesaurized by private individuals, their goal being to only make return immediately of the money in the cases of the State. The full value of the first emission will be of 400 million books.

Although the idea is simple and completely realizable, it is far from achieving the unanimity within the constituent National Assembly. Thus deputies like Talleyrand, Condorcet or Of the Bridge of Nemours are entirely against. For them, the main issue of the emission of assignats is that it is not necessary that there is more assignats in circulation that the value of the national goods. However, at that time, the tickets are easily falsifiable. There is thus a strong risk to find in circulation a quantity much larger of assignats than than there must truly be, and in addition the assignats emitted by the counterfeiters will not bring incomes to the State. In such a case, the assignats will not be worth anything any more.

At the beginning of 1790, the first failures occur. The March 30th, Anne-Pierre of Montesquiou-Fezensac declares about the assignats that it is “the most expensive and disastrous of the loans ”.

Depreciation

The April 17th, the assignat is transformed into a paper money. And the State, always with court of liquidities, uses it for all its current expenditure. The machine packs… The State does not destroy the assignats that it recovers, worse, it prints more assignats that the actual value of the national goods. Jacques Necker, then Minister for Finance, resolutely against the transformation of the assignat into paper money, gives its resignation in September.

The assignat loses its value more and more, thus in 3 years, of 1790 with 1793, the assignat loses 60% of its value.

Although the assignat way its reduced value, the biddings of the national goods remain very high all the same for the popular classes and only the easy class can buy them. Thus some grow rich enormously and buy immense grounds and buildings for almost nothing, compared to their actual value .

To support the assignat, several Loi S is voted, like the closing of the Bourse and the end of the publication of foreign exchange rates in 1793, so as to limit the Spéculation. With the beginning of the Terror the same year, it not acceptance of the assignat is even liable to the Capital punishment.

Despite everything that, the political powers are not worried a Economic crisis which arrives and the State continues to emit assignats more and more. Thus in 1796, nearly 45 billion books assignats are in circulation, whereas the total sum of the assignats should never have exceeded the 3 billion, value of the goods of the clergy.

The England, then the largest enemy of France, even started to produce forgeries assignats to accelerate the French economic crisis.

End of the assignats

On decision of the Directory, the assignat is finally abandoned with ostentation, when the boards with tickets, the Poinçon S, the matrices and the plates are burned in public Place Vendôme, the 30 Pluviôse, An IV of the Republic (February 19th 1796).

The March 18th, the assignat is withdrawn from circulation against a new ticket, the territorial Mandat. The exchange is done on the basis of 30 franc assignat against 1 frank mandate. The territorial mandate knew the same history more or less that the assignat, its depreciation was done much more quickly than for its predecessor. The February 4th 1797, it was withdrawn from circulation and the sounding and stumbling currency took again its place.

Although at first sight the assignat is regarded as a pure failure, its creation doubtless prevented the quasi immediate bankruptcy of the French State, whose effects on the Revolution would certainly have been very important.

Forgery assignats

Note

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