Mandats territoriaux

Mandats territoriaux (French) were paper notes issued as currency by the French Revolutionary Government in 1796. They were land-warrants supposedly redeemable in the lands confiscated from royalty, the clergy and the church after the outbreak of the 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.