currency had largely driven out the dearer; paper had caused small
silver and copper money mainly to disappear; all sorts of notes of
hand, circulating under the name of "confidence bills," flooded
France--sixty-three kinds in Paris alone. This unguaranteed currency
caused endless confusion and fraud. Different districts of France
began to issue their own _assignats_ in small denominations, and this
action stirred the National Assembly to evade the solemn pledge that
the circulation should not go above twelve hundred millions and that
all _assignats_ returned to the treasury for lands should immediately
be burned.[24] Within a short time there had been received into the
treasury for lands one hundred and sixty million _livres_ in paper.
By the terms of the previous acts this amount of paper ought to have
been retired. Instead of this, under the plea of necessity, the
greater part of it was reissued in the form of small notes.

There was, indeed, much excuse for new issues of small notes, for,
under the theory that an issue of smaller notes would drive silver out
of circulation, the smallest authorized _assignat_ was for fifty
_livres_. To supply silver and copper and hold it in circulation
everything was tried. Citizens had been spurred on by law to send
their silverware and jewels to the mint. Even the king sent his
silver and gold plate, and the churches and convents were required by
law to send to the government melting pot all silver and gold vessels
not absolutely necessary for public worship. For copper money the
church bells were melted down. But silver and even copper continued
to become more and more scarce. In the midst of all this, various
juggleries were tried, and in November, 1790, the Assembly decreed a
single standard of coinage, the chosen metal being silver, and the
ratio between the two precious metals was changed from 15 1/2 to 1, to
14 1/2 to 1--but all in vain. It was found necessary to issue the