The currency of France. History through the ages

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

In the late 20th and early 21st century, many European currencies were replaced by the euro. At the same time, currencies ceased to exist, the history of which lasted for centuries. Among them is the currency of France - the franc. It lasted no less than almost two centuries, and the history of the French currency itself has a little over 640 years.

Deep antiquity

A distinctive feature of the franc is that its name is not tied to any measure of weight. From the very beginning, the franc existed as a monetary unit. The year of its appearance can be considered 1360. The national currency of France got its name in honor of the king of France, John II, released from English captivity. The first franc was also called "equestrian", the obverse of the coin depicted a rider (king) on a horse. At the time of its appearance, the franc was equal to the Turkish livre, a coin that had existed for almost a century and served as a means of payment throughout the country. The first francs were issued only 20 years, and livres served as a means of payment for another four and a half centuries, but due to their huge popularity they were already called francs. The currency of France received its second birth in 1575, when silver francs came into circulation.

An era of change

The franc was finally fixed as the main currency of the state after the overthrow of the monarchies, at the same time the decimalization of the currency was fixed (fractionation of the franc by one hundred centimes). At the same time, new money was issued almost eight years after the revolution, under Napoleon Bonaparte. They, surprisingly, kept their value for almost a century, until 1903. During the 19th century, the currency of France went through many changes in government. In the second half of the century, Belgium and Switzerland created their own francs, based on French. A little later, the Latin Monetary Union was created. This was the first attempt to create the first interstate currency on the continent. The basis of the union was, as the most stable, the currency of France. The euro was almost a century and a half away. In connection with the outbreak of the First World War, many European states, including France, abandoned the gold backing of the franc. At this time, military spending was offset by the release of new funds to the market. All this could not but affect the franc - for the period from 1915 to 1921, its purchasing power decreased by almost 70%. In the future, the franc continued to fall in price. And then the Second World War broke out. And in the occupied country, occupation stamps were used as money. Of course, their rate was significantly overpriced.

Post-war franc

In 1960 in France, led by Charles de Gaulle, a denomination was held. And again a new franc appeared, equal to a hundred old ones. It's not hard to calculate that one old franc nowequal to a centime. Actually, it was like this for almost two more years, exactly until new centimes were minted. And in 1979, an event occurs that influenced the fate of the franc. France joined the European monetary system. Actually, the currency of France before the euro was not able to gain its former heights. The purchasing power of the franc in 1999 has fallen by eight times compared to 1960. What can be considered surprising is this: in spite of everything, the new franc existed for four decades, many residents of the state, right up to the transition to the single European currency, recalculated prices for old francs.

Frank left, franc stayed

On January 1, 1999, the franc gave way to the single European currency. The former currency of France, although it disappeared from circulation, remained in countries that had ever worked closely with it. And this applies not only to the overseas possessions of France, where until now the French Pacific franc has been used as the currency for settlement. Until recently, there are more than twenty varieties of francs in the world. Thus, the Swiss currency remained independent. The Swiss franc also circulates in Liechtenstein. And in Africa, there are as many as 14 states whose currency is the CFA franc, and six have their own independent francs. However, the currency of France remained in the hearts of the inhabitants of the country. Merchants from one of the towns organized a trade in various goods for francs, and buyers flew to the city from all over the country. However, this did not last long, at the end of February 2012 to exchange Frenchfrancs to the euro became impossible. The French franc is gone, leaving its mark on the history of the country and the world.