Franc
The franc is the name of several currency units, most notably that of
France before it adopted the
euro. The name is said to derive from the
Latin inscription
francorum rex on early
French coins, or from the
French franc, meaning "free" .
The countries that use francs include
Switzerland,
Liechtenstein, and most of the
Francophone countries of
Africa. Before the introduction of the euro, francs were also used in France,
Belgium and
Luxembourg, while
Andorra and
Monaco accepted the French franc as legal tender.
Encyclopedia
| Franc |
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| 1 Swiss franc 1983 |
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| 1 French franc 1991 |
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| 1 Belgian franc 1996 |
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| 1 Luxembourg franc 1990 |
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| 1 Monegasque franc 1978 |
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| | |
| 5 Comorian francs 1992 |
|---|
The
franc is the name of several currency units, most notably that of
France before it adopted the
euro. The name is said to derive from the
Latin inscription
francorum rex on early
French coins, or from the
French franc, meaning "free" .
The countries that use francs include
Switzerland,
Liechtenstein, and most of the
Francophone countries of
Africa. Before the introduction of the euro, francs were also used in France,
Belgium and
Luxembourg, while
Andorra and
Monaco accepted the French franc as legal tender. The Franc was also used within the French Empire's colonies, including
Algeria and
Cambodia.
One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The French franc symbol was an F with a line through it .
Origins
The franc was originally a French
gold coin of 3.87 g minted in 1360 on the occasion of the release of King
John II , held by the English since his capture at the Battle of Poitiers four years earlier. It was equivalent to one
livre tournois .
French franc
The
French franc was the national currency of
France from 1360 until 1641 and again from 1795 until 1999 . Though abolished as a legal coin by
Louis XIII in 1641 in favor of the gold louis and silver écu, the term franc continued to be used in common parlance for the livre tournois. The franc was also minted for many of the former French colonies, such as Morocco, Algieria, French West Africa, and others. Today, after independence, many of these countries continue to use the franc as their standard denomination.
CFA and CFP francs
Fourteen African countries use the franc CFA , originally worth 1.7 French francs and then from 1948, 2 francs but after January 1994 worth only 0.01 French franc. Therefore, from January 1999, 1 CFA franc is equivalent to 0.00152449 euro.
A separate circulates in France's Pacific territories, worth 0.0084 euro .
Comorian franc
In 1981, The
Comoros established an arrangement with the French government similar to that of the CFA franc. Originally, 50
Comorian francs were worth 1 French franc. In January 1994, the rate was changed to 75 Comorian francs to the French franc. Since 1999, the currency has been pegged to the euro.
The conquest of most of western Europe by Revolutionary and Napoleonic France led to the franc's wide circulation. Following independence from the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the new Kingdom of
Belgium in 1832 adopted its own franc, equivalent to the French one, followed by
Luxembourg in 1848 and Switzerland in 1850. Newly unified
Italy adopted the lira on a similar basis in 1862.
In 1865, France, Belgium, Switzerland and Italy created the
Latin Monetary Union : each would possess a national currency unit worth 4.5 g of silver or 0.290 322 g of gold , all freely exchangeable at a rate of 1:1. In the 1870s the gold value was made the fixed standard, a situation which was to continue until 1914.
In 1926
Belgium as well as France experienced depreciation and an abrupt collapse of confidence, leading to the introduction of a new gold currency for international transactions, the
belga of 5 francs, and the country's withdrawal from the monetary union, which ceased to exist at the end of the year. The 1921 monetary union of Belgium and Luxembourg survived, however, forming the basis for full economic union in 1932.
Like the French franc, the Belgian/Luxemburgese franc ceased to exist in January 1, 1999, when it became fixed at 1 EUR= 40.3399 BEF/LUF, thus a franc was worth 0.024789 €. Old franc coins and notes lost their legal tender status in February 28, 2002.
1 Luxembourg franc was equal to 1 Belgian franc. Belgian francs were legal tender inside Luxembourg, and Luxembourg francs were legal tender in Belgium.
The equivalent name of the Belgian franc in
Dutch, Belgium's other official language, was "Belgische Frank."
The
Swiss franc , which appreciated significantly against the new European currency from April to September 2000, remains one of the world's strongest currencies, worth today around two-thirds of a euro. The
Swiss franc is used in
Switzerland and in
Liechtenstein.
The name of the country "Swiss Confederation" is found on some of the coins in
Latin , as Switzerland has four official languages, all of which are used on the notes. The denomination is abbreviated "Fr" on the coins which is the abbreviation in all four languages.
Congolese franc
The Congolese franc is used in the
Democratic Republic of Congo. Suppressed in 1967 by
Mobutu, it was re-established in 1998 by
Laurent Kabila.
Burundian franc
Used in
Burundi.
Rwandan franc
Used in
Rwanda.
Djiboutian franc
Used in
Djibouti. Pegged to the
US dollar since 1973.
Guinean franc
Used in
Guinea. Suppressed in 1972 by dictator Sékou Touré, re-established in 1986 by his successor
Lansana Conté.
Malagasy franc
The Malagasy franc was replaced by the Malagasy ariary on January 1, 2005. This controversial decision was taken by President Marc Ravalomanana.
See also
...
...
.
- Malagasy franc
- Rwandan franc
- Special settlement currencies
- Livre tournois
- Roman currency
- New Hebrides franc
External links
