Promesse Mandat Territorial, 5 copies, nrs 7181-7185, serie 2, 500 francs,

Beschrijving

One large printed and handwritten paper, two minor holes in two promesses, 47x26cm, 1796, 5 mandats of 500 francs each, 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. The mandat was only briefly in circulation. The legislation that created the mandat was passed on 18 March 1796 but rapidly fell into decline and was without real value within months. Rumors that the mandats would not be accepted and a history of hyperinflation lead many merchants to reject the mandats as they had the assignats. The new currency did little to solve the economic problems and workers were angered that new enforcement measures were not put in place to prevent discrimination between mandats and coin.