Catalog
25 Francs Mandat Territorial
| Issuer | Trésorerie Nationale |
|---|---|
| Year | 4 (1796) |
| Type | Vouchers |
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| Obverse description | Plain white ground within a fine roulette border, the text set in a mix of copperplate script and bold letterpress typefaces. To the lower right, a circular allegorical vignette inscribed NATIONALE shows a seated female figure in classical dress. The left panel carries the Trésorerie Nationale heading, serial number, and Vu au Contrôle notation within a ruled box, alongside two manuscript signatures. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Trésorerie Nationale Vu au Contrôle Promesse de mandat territorial Créé par la Loi du 28. Ventôse An 4ème de la République Bon pour vingt cinq Francs NATIONALE |
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| Comments |
The Mandats Territoriaux were launched in March 1796 as a forced replacement for the collapsing Assignats, theoretically backed by nationalized church and émigré lands — the same backing the Assignats had already exhausted. The exchange rate was fixed at 30 Assignats to 1 Mandat, but the public immediately distrusted them, and within weeks they were trading at a fraction of face value on the street. The entire experiment lasted barely eight months before the Directory formally demonetized the series in February 1797.
Hyperinflation had destroyed confidence so thoroughly that the Mandats depreciated faster than they could be printed. Surviving examples in any condition are common — the notes simply were not used.