ASSIGNAT. The commercial history of an assignat bears some such relation to that of a bank note, as a swindler does to an honest trader. During the early stages of the French Revolution, the government siezed the clergy lands, and made them over to the municipali ties ; the municipalities gave security for the value, which securities the government ordered should be a legal tender. Paper money was issued to represent these securities ; and the paper notes were called assignals, or tokens that church-land had been assigned to the holder. The government once having began this system, were induced to proceed ; and issued more and more assignats, though there was nothing to be represented by them. By the end of 1792 the assignats had been issued to the extent of nearly 3000 million francs ; and as they were not convertible into cash, one silver franc became after a time worth two paper or assignat-francs, then three, then six.
During a flash of national glory, in 1793, the assignats rose for a brief period to par, but speedily fell again. By 1791 the number had increased to 6,500 millions, and in the next year it increased to 19,000 millions, the market value being less than one-hundredth of the nominal value. In 1796 the sum reached 36,000 million francs ; hut the scraps of paper were almost entirely worthless ; and as the government officials at length refused them in payment of salaries, the whole thing fell to the ground.
The misery which this nefarious system in flicted is incalculable. There are at the present time, in France and Belgium, rooms which have been completely papered with assignats —for all of which money or money's value had been given, but which became utterly worth less.