Assignats, paper bills issued as currency from 1789 to 1796 during the French Revolution. They were initially backed by the value of expropriated properties, but as those properties were sold and still more assignats were issued the system succumbed to inflation. The Tarot card of The Fool, or The Beggar, on top of the assignats sums up the poor man's lot during the latter years of the assignats hyperinflation.

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Keywords: archival, archive, assignat, assignats, beggar, bills, currencies, currency, economies, economy, engraving, fool, france, french, historical, history, hyperinflation, illustration, inflation, inflationary, paper, period, photograph, picture, print, revolution, tarot, vintage