The franco was a currency

Currency

In economics, currency refers to a generally accepted medium of exchange. These are usually the coins and banknotes of a particular government, which comprise the physical aspects of a nation's money supply...

 introduced in the Dominican Republic

Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...

 in 1891, as the Dominican Republic Government, then headed by president Ulises Heureaux

Ulises Heureaux

Ulises Heureaux Lebert was president of the Dominican Republic from 1 September 1882 to 1 September 1883, from 6 January to 27 February 1887 and again from 30 April 1889 until his assassination, maintaining power between his terms.-Early life:Heureaux, affectionately known as Lilís, was born in...

 intended to join the Latin Monetary Union

Latin Monetary Union

The Latin Monetary Union was a 19th century attempt to unify several European currencies, at a time when most circulating coins were still made of gold and silver...

. It was subdivided into 100 centesimo

Centesimo

Centesimo is an Italian word derived from the Latin centesimus meaning "hundredth". It was equal to 1/100th of currencies named lira. However, not all lira-denominated currencies feature centesimo as their 1/100th subunit...

s. Five denominations of coin

Coin

A coin is a piece of hard material that is standardized in weight, is produced in large quantities in order to facilitate trade, and primarily can be used as a legal tender token for commerce in the designated country, region, or territory....

s were issued, 5, 10 and 50 centesimos, 1 and 5 francos. Although apparently intended to replace the mexican peso

Mexican peso

The peso is the currency of Mexico. Modern peso and dollar currencies have a common origin in the 15th–19th century Spanish dollar, most continuing to use its sign, "$". The Mexican peso is the 12th most traded currency in the world, the third most traded in the Americas, and by far the most...

 which was the main circulating currency back then, this did not happen, because the Dominican Governement did not establish parity with the circulating mexican peso and in 1897, new coins denominated in pesos and similar in design to the franco coins were introduced. The coins matched the specifications of the French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 10 and 50 centimes and 1 and 5 francs

French franc

The franc was a currency of France. Along with the Spanish peseta, it was also a de facto currency used in Andorra . 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...

, indicating that a link between the franco and the Latin Monetary Union

Latin Monetary Union

The Latin Monetary Union was a 19th century attempt to unify several European currencies, at a time when most circulating coins were still made of gold and silver...

was intended.