French franc

The franc (represented by the franc sign ₣ or more commonly just F) is a former currency of France. Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amount of money. It was re-introduced (in decimal form) in 1795 and remained the national currency until the introduction of the euro in 1999 for accounting purposes, with coins and banknotes issued in 2002.

History

Before the French Revolution

The franc was introduced by King John II in 1360. Its name comes from the inscription reading Johannes Dei Gratia Francorum Rex ("Jean by the grace of God King of the French") and its value was set as one livre tournois (a money of account). Francs were later minted under Charles V, Henri III and Henri IV.

Louis XIII of France stopped minting the franc in 1641 (replacing it with the Écu and Louis d'Or), but use of the name "franc" continued in accounting as a synonym for the livre tournois.

French Revolution

The franc was established as the national currency by the French Revolutionary Convention in 1795 as a decimal unit (1 franc = 100 centimes) of 4.5 g of fine silver. This was slightly less than the livre of 4.505 g but the franc was set in 1796 at 1.0125 livres (1 livre, 3 deniers), reflecting in part the past minting of sub-standard coins.

In 1803, the "franc germinal" (named after the name of the month in the revolutionary calendar) was established, creating a gold franc containing 9/31 g (290.32 mg) of fine gold. From this point, gold and silver-based units circulated interchangeably on the basis of a 1:15.5 ratio between the values of the two metals (bimetallism). This system continued until 1864, when all silver coins except the 5 franc piece were debased from 90% to 83.5% silver without the weights changing.

Latin Monetary Union

France was a founding member of the Latin Monetary Union (LMU) in 1865. The common currency was based on the franc germinal, with the name franc already being used in Switzerland and Belgium, whilst other countries used their own names for the currency.

In 1873, the LMU went over to a purely gold standard of 1 franc = 9/31 g gold.

World War I

The outbreak of World War I caused France to leave the gold standard of the LMU. The war severely undermined the franc's strength, as war expenditure, inflation and postwar reconstruction, financed partly through the printing of ever more money, reduced the franc's purchasing power by 70% from 1915 to 1920 and a further 43% from 1922 to 1926. After a brief return to the gold standard (1928 to 1936) the currency was allowed to resume its slide, until it was worth in 1959 less than a fortieth of its 1934 value.

World War II

During the occupation of France, the franc was a satellite currency of the reichsmark. The coins were changed, with the words "travail, famille, patrie" (work, family, fatherland) replacing the Republican triad "Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité" (Freedom, Equality, Brotherhood) and the symbol of the Vichy regime added.

The new franc

In January 1960 the French franc was revalued at 100 existing francs. Old franc pieces continued to circulate as centimes (none of which were minted for the first two years), 100 of them making a nouveau franc (the abbreviation NF was used for some time). Inflation continued to erode the currency's value but at a greatly reduced rate comparable to other countries, so when the euro replaced the franc in January 1, 1999, the new franc was worth less than an eighth of its original value.

Many French people continued using old francs, anciens francs as a unit; large sums such as lottery prizes were often given in centimes, since these are equivalent to the old franc. This usage continued right up to when franc notes and coins were withdrawn in 2002.

European Monetary Union

From January 1, 1999, the value exchange rate of the French franc against the euro was set at a fixed parity of 1 EUR=6.55957 FRF. Euro coins and notes replaced it entirely between January 1 and February 17, 2002.

At the time of changeover, the coins in circulation were

5 centimes (.762 cent)
10 centimes (1.52 cent)
20 centimes (3.05 cent)
50 centimes (7.62 cent)
1 franc (15.24 cent)
2 francs (30.49 cent)
5 francs (76.22 cent)
10 francs (€1.52)
20 francs (€3.05)

Coins were exchangeable until February 17, 2005 ^*

Banknotes were ^*

20 francs (€3.05) : Claude Debussy
50 francs (€7.62) : Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
100 francs (€15.24) : Paul Cézanne
200 francs (€30.49) : Gustave Eiffel
500 francs (€76.22) : Pierre and Marie Curie

Banknotes may be exchanged with the French central bank or services like GFC until February 17, 2012.

Andorran franc (ADF)

The Andorran franc was a 1:1 peg to the french franc. Unlike Monaco, Andorra was not formal currency union with France. Consequently, no Andorran coins were minted nor notes printed.

External links

Overview of French franc from the BBC

Andorra | Economy of France | Currencies replaced by the Euro | Currencies of Andorra

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