Though abolished as a legal coin by Louis XIII in 1641 in favor of the gold louis or écu, the term franc continued to be used in common parlance for the livre tournois. Louis XIII (September 27, 1601 – May 14, 1643), called the Just (French: le Juste), was King of France from 1610 to 1643. ... Events The Long Parliament passes a series of legislation designed to contain Charles Is absolutist tendencies. ... The French Louis XVIII 20 franc coin was a limited number of gold coins issued depicting King Louis on one side, and the French royal coat of arms on the reverse. ... The term écu may refer to one of several French coins. ... The livre tournois (or Tournoise pound) was a currency used in France, named after the town of Tours, in which it was minted. ...

French Revolution

The franc was re-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 (theoretically slightly less than the livre of 4.505 g, though the new coin was set in 1796 at 1.0125 livres, reflecting in part the past minting of sub-standard coin). 1795 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... General Name, Symbol, Number silver, Ag, 47 Chemical series Transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 5, d Density, Hardness 10490 kg/m3, 2. ... 1796 was a leap year starting on Friday. ...

With the creation of a gold franc in 1803, gold and silver-based units circulated interchangeably on the basis of a 1:15.1 ratio between the values of the two metals (bimetallism). 1803 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... In economics, bimetallism is a monetary standard in which the value of the monetary unit can be expressed either with a certain amount of gold or with a certain amount of silver: the ratio between the two metals is fixed by law. ...

World War I

World War I severely undermined the French 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 per cent from 1915 to 1920 and a further 43 per cent 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 1936 value. Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... 1915 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... 1920 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. ... 1922 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1926 was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1922 U.S. gold certificate The gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is a fixed weight of gold. ... 1928 was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1936 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1959 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

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. 1960 was a leap year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... 1999 is a common year starting on Friday of the Common Era, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ...

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, with speculation as to whether older people would carry the factor of 100 conversion through to the euro, the scaled-down version being called, naturally, the euro ancien.

From January 1, 1999, the value exchange rate of the French franc against the euro was set at a fix parity of 1 EUR=6.55957 FRF. Euro coins and notes replaced it entirely between January 1 and February 17, 2002. January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... 1999 is a common year starting on Friday of the Common Era, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... The euro (€; ISO 4217 code EUR) is the currency of twelve of the twenty-five nations that form the European Union (and four outside it, as well as Montenegro and Kosovo), which form the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). ... The franc is the name of several currency units. ... February 17 is the 48th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

At the time of changeover, the coins in circulation were 1¢ euro coin A coin is generally a piece of hard material, generally metal and usually in the shape of a disc, which is used as a form of money. ...

• 5 centimes (.762 Eurocent)
• 10 centimes (1.52 Eurocent)
• 20 centimes (3.05 Eurocent)
• 50 centimes (7.62 Eurocent)
• 1 Franc (15.24 Eurocent)
• 2 Francs (30.49 Eurocent)
• 5 Francs (76.22 Eurocent)
• 10 Francs (€1.52)
• 20 Francs (€3.05)

Coins may be exchanged until February 17, 2005 [1] (http://www.ecb.int/bc/exchange/html/index.en.html#timelimits) February 17 is the 48th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and is the current year. ...

Banknotes were [2] (http://www.ecb.int/bc/exchange/fr/html/index.en.html) A £20 Ulster Bank banknote. ...

• 20 Francs (€3.05)
• 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 et Marie Curie

Banknotes may be exchanged until February 17, 2012 February 17 is the 48th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2012 is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

See also

• Livre tournois

The livre tournois (or Tournoise pound) was a currency used in France, named after the town of Tours, in which it was minted. ...

External link

• Overview of French franc from the BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/business/2001/euro_cash/spent_currencies/f_franc.stm)