Currency of France. History in the centuries

In the late 20th and early 21st century many European currencies were replaced by the euro. At the same time, the existence of a currency whose history lasted for centuries ceased to exist. Among them, the currency of France is the franc. It existed for almost two centuries, and the history of the French currency itself is just over 640 years old.

The old deep

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

The Age of Change

Finally, the franc was fixed as the main currency of the state after the overthrow of the monarchies, at the same time the decimal currency was fixed (the franc split into one hundred centimes). At the same time, new money was issued almost eight years after the revolution, under Napoleon Bonaparte. Surprisingly, they kept their value for almost a century, until 1903. During the 19th century, the currency of France experienced many changes in forms of government. In the second half of the century, Belgium and Switzerland created their own francs, taking as a basis the French. And 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 lay, as the most stable, the currency of France. The euro remained almost a century and a half. In connection with the beginning of the First World, many European states, and France in particular, abandoned the gold provision of the franc. At that time, military expenses were compensated for by issuing new money to the market. All this could not but affect the franc - for the period from 1915 to 1921, its purchasing power declined by almost 70%. In the future, the franc continued to become cheaper. And then came the Second World War. And in the occupied country as occupation money there were occupation marks. Of course, their rate was significantly overestimated.

Post-war franc

In 1960, in France, led by Charles de Gaulle, a denomination was held. And again a new franc appeared, equal to one hundred old. It is not difficult to calculate that one old franc was now equal to a centime. Actually, it was almost two years ago, exactly until that time, until new santims were minted. And in 1979 there is an event that influenced the fate of the franc. France joined the European monetary system. Actually, the currency of France before the euro was never able to gain its former heights. The purchasing power of the franc in 1999 fell eightfold compared to 1960. The following is surprising: despite everything, the new franc existed for four decades, many residents of the state, right up to the transition to a single European currency, converted prices for old francs.

Frank left, the franc stayed

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