Mandats territoriaux

Mandats territoriaux were paper bank notes issued as currency by the French Directory in 1796 to replace the assignats which had become virtually worthless. They were land-warrants supposedly redeemable in the lands confiscated from royalty, the clergy and the church after the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789. In February 1796, 800,000,000 francs of mandats were issued as legal tender to replace the 24,000,000,000 francs of assignats then outstanding. In all about 2,500,000,000 francs of mandats were issued. They were heavily counterfeited and their value depreciated rapidly within six months. In February 1797, they lost their legal tender quality and by May were worth virtually nothing.

• 
  100 Francs
• 
  500 Francs

External links

• Media related to Promesses de Mandats Territoriaux at Wikimedia Commons

References

• Howard G. Brown; Judith A. Miller (2002). Taking Liberties: Problems of a New Order From the French Revolution to Napoleon. Manchester University Press. p. 72. ISBN 978-0-7190-6431-9. 
• Florin Aftalion (22 March 1990). The French Revolution: An Economic Interpretation. Cambridge University Press. p. 173. ISBN 978-0-521-36810-0.