French Franc (F)

What Is the French Franc (F)?

The French franc (F) was the national currency of France prior to France's adoption of the euro (EUR) in January 2002. Prior to its replacement by the EUR, the franc was administered by the Bank of France and was contained 100 subunits, or 'centimes.'

The franc was accessible in coin groups of 1, 5, 10, and 20 centimes; and in 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10, and 20 francs. Its banknotes were accessible in groups of 20, 50, 100, 200, and 500 francs.

Grasping the French Franc (F)

The history of the French franc starts in 1360, following the capture of King John II by England during the Battle of Poitiers — an original clash of the Hundred Years' War. To bear the cost of his payment, France was forced to mint new gold coins. One franc coin contained the picture of King John II free from bondage riding a horse, while another coin showed him free on foot. The French expressions for these two pictures, "franc \u00e0 cheval" and "franc \u00e0 pied," got on. Before long, users of the coins alluded to them basically as "francs."

The French Revolution was a period of major political and economic commotion, wherein changes to the national currency were presented on various events. One such change was the creation of another gold franc in 1803, containing 290.32 mg of gold. This was the first gold coin to be named in quite a while, and it portrayed Napoleon Bonaparte as Emperor of France. This new coin, and the several cycles which followed them, were famously known as "Gold Napoleons" and were widely applauded for their status as sound money.

As the French economy industrialized all through the nineteenth century, the franc developed to turn into a critical international currency. In 1865, France was an establishing member of the Latin Monetary Union, an early endeavor to join European economies under one currency. The union was first in light of a bimetallic standard yet later changed to a standard dependent exclusively upon gold. Following World War II, France proceeded with its advocacy for additional integration of European currencies. In 1992, the French public approved the section of the Maastricht Treaty, which fills in as the basis for the European Union and the implementation of the euro. This endorsement put the country on the path to laying out the euro. On Jan. 1, 2002, France concluded its adoption of the euro, following a three-year momentary period during which both the franc and the euro were treated as legal tender.

True Example of the French Franc (F)

The franc saw its value decline steeply in the approximately 100-year period prior to the adoption of the euro. This was due by and large to the two World Wars, which required France to bear huge wartime spending. This inflationary pressure, combined with the extreme destruction of property brought about by the fighting, contributed to a persevering downward slide in the value of the franc during the primary half of the 20th century. In spite of the fact that its value balanced out momentarily during the 1930s, the episode of World War II prompted a further erosion of purchasing power.

Rather than this tempestuous history, the euro has been moderately stable since its adoption by France in 2002. Somewhere in the range of 2002 and 2020, the euro has seen its value range from a low of generally $0.85 [U.S. dollars (USD)](/usd-US dollar) per euro to a high of almost $1.60 USD per euro. France's gross domestic product (GDP) has become by around 1.2% each year starting around 2002, though its inflation rate has held consistent at around 1.4% each year.

Highlights

• The franc has a long history dating back over 600 years.
• France had been a long-standing advocate of European monetary integration prior to the adoption of the euro in 2002.
• The French franc was the national currency of France prior to its adoption of the euro.