Depreciation of French assignats in the years 1789-1796: subtitle

The work examines the problem of depreciation of French assignats in the years 1789–1796. In the studied period, the value of assignats changed, and their exchange rate underwent both depreciation and appreciation. By February 19, 1796, when assignat printing presses, stamps, and matrices were publicly destroyed in Place Vendôme, revolutionary banknotes had lost approximately 99.7% of their value. The history of assignats exemplifies the process of issuing paper money to cover state expenses, which led to a complete depreciation of the issued banknotes in the years following their first issuance in 1789.

This paper aims at presenting the depreciation of French assignats in the years 1789–1796, as well as identifying and discussing its determinants, particularly economic and social. The following detailed objectives were defined to help achieve the main objective:

1. identification of the factors affecting the value of assignats;
2. formulation of the “depreciation” dependent variable, as well as potential independent variables;
3. development of causal econometric models of assignat depreciation in France and in the Bouches-du-Rhône department;
4. validation and statistical verification of the constructed models.

Main hypothesis and research questions were developed based on a critical analysis of source material and literature review, as well as the main objective and detailed objectives formulated in the paper. The main research hypothesis of the paper is as follows: the depreciation of French assignats was determined by their issuance, sale of national assets, the introduction of the Law of the General Maximum, as well as military activities conducted by the French revolutionary army.