The paper money issued by the revolutionary government was called assignats. Revolutionary France authorized these notes against the value of confiscated national property, especially former church and royal lands.
The first assignats were introduced in 1790 as interest-bearing certificates intended to help the state manage its enormous debt. They were soon transformed into legal tender and circulated as ordinary paper currency. Their name comes from the French idea of assigning a claim against particular assets.
As the government issued ever larger quantities to pay for war and public expenses, confidence in the notes declined. Counterfeiting, shortages, and political instability accelerated their depreciation, contributing to severe inflation. Prices rose sharply, and many people preferred coins or goods to paper notes.
The assignat was eventually withdrawn. The Directory attempted to replace it with another land-backed currency, the mandat territorial, in 1796, but that experiment also failed quickly. “Francs” and “livres” are easy distractors: the livre was an older unit of account, while the franc became France’s main currency later.