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Monetary unit of France between 1795 and 1998, the franc succeeded the book tournaments. How the French franc did evolve through the centuries? This emblematic monetary unit is closely related to the French history. It is also the object of many collections by the numismatists.
It is on December 5th, 1380 in Compiegne which are struck the first francs. More precisely, the very first coin is named “horseshoe”: it is put in circulation in 1381. The avers of this coin represents John II the Good on his horse. As for the reverse, it represents a leafy cross with quatrefoil in heart. Why the first francs were created? To finance the ransom of John II the Good which had been made prisoner with the battle of Poitiers in 1356.
The franc disappears for the first time under the reign from Charles VI to be replaced by another coin of France; the ecu with the crown by 1385. However, the conflicts related to the One hundred Year old war involve a monetary instability in the country. Thanks to the victory of Joan of Arc vis-a-vis the English in Orleans, Charles VII can nevertheless reconquer the kingdom. He benefits from it to again make strike a “franc with horse” which also ends up disappearing, replaced by the ecu of gold. The franc reappears 150 years later, in 1475, when Henri III creates the “franc of money”. But by 1586, it is again aimed by a prohibition to the profit of the ecu of gold to the sun. Later, Louis XIII reforms the monetary system and creates the gold louis.
It is on August 15th, 1795 that the law defines the franc as official currency of the Republic, and this in a context of financial crisis following the French revolution. The decimal system which is based on ten enters then in scene: the franc is divided into ten ten-per-cent taxes of ten centimes each one. Besides this new system meets a big hit near the citizens who adopt it immediately. In 1803, a new turning takes place in the history of the Franc. Napoleon Bonaparte, then First Consul, undertake a reform aiming at cleansing the context and the money circulation. With the law of April 7th, 1803, the money is with the honor: the germinal franc is called besides “frankly of money”. Several coins (1/4 franc, 2 francs, 5 francs…) are struck in this metal. The germinal franc remains a stable currency until 1914.
To finance the conflict against Germany, the government refuses to set up a tax. He prefers to resort to the Government loan like to the English and American credit. The consequences were without call: one attends with an inflation and a fall of the franc on the foreign exchange market. Years 1920 represent one period of monetary blur: in 1926, the franc is worth a tenth of its value of pre-war period. It is Raymond Poincaré which redefines the monetary unit in 1928 and makes it possible to open one period of stability. However, the crisis of 1930 and the German occupation by June 1940 are heavy blows for the franc.
In 1958, the general de Gaulle undertakes an economic reform: thus the “revalued franc” makes its appearance and enters in circulation in 1960. A franc is then equal to 100 old francs. Following European construction, a common currency is considered by 1992: the euro replaces the franc definitively in January 2002.
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