Currencyhistory
In1795,thefrancofficiallyreplacedthelivreasthestandardmonetaryunitofFrance.In1834,allothercurrencieswithdrewfromcirculation,andthefrancbecametheonlycurrencyinFrance.In1803,Franceimplementedthegoldandsilverdoublestandardsystem,stipulatingthat1franccontains0.2903225gramsofgoldand4.5gramsofsilver.However,duetothecontinuousfluctuationofthepriceofgoldandsilverinthelate19thcentury,thesystemofreturninggoldandsilvertothestandardcollapsed.Thegoldstandardwasimplementedin1876.Thecirculationof5francssilvercoinswasabolishedandthegoldcontentoffrancswassetat0.2903225grams.DuringtheFirstWorldWar,thevalueofthefrancwasdecoupledfromgold.InJune1928,Franceenactedanewcurrencylawandformallyimplementedthegoldbullionstandardsystem,stipulatingthatthegoldcontentof1francis0.05895grams,whichis79.69%depreciationfrom1803.In1936,hewasforcedtoabandonthegoldbullionstandard.InJuneofthefollowingyear,thegoldcontentofthefrancwasabolished,andthefrancbecameabanknotethatcouldnotbecashed.
AftertheSecondWorldWar,thefrancdepreciated5times,andthedepreciationratereached90%.In1958,afterPresidentdeGaulletookoffice,hedecidedtointroduceanewfranc(NouveauFranc)toreplacethedepreciatingoldfranc.OnJanuary1,1960,Franceimplementedcurrencyreformsandissuedanewfranc(NouveauFranc).Onenewfrancisequalto100oldfrancs,withagoldcontentof0.1802grams.Afterthe1960s,thefranccontinuedtobeseverelyimpacted,andinAugust1969itdepreciatedagainby11.11%.InAugust1971,Franceestablishedadualforeignexchangemarket,dividingtheexchangerateoffrancsintotradefrancsandfinancialfrancs.Later,theexchangeratedistinctionwasabolishedinMarch1973.InApril1972,thefrancparticipatedinthe"serpentinefloat"inWesternEurope,andinMarchofthefollowingyear,itparticipatedinthejointfloatofWesternEurope.Afterthe1980s,thefrancdepreciated3times.Theratioofthedollartothefranconcefellto1:10.
>In1356,atthetimeoftheHundredYears'WarbetweenBritainandFrance,theKingofFranceatthetimeletKingIIloseinthebattleofPoitiersinwesternFranceandwascapturedbytheBritisharmy.,Becameaprisoner.TheBritishputforwardaharshconditionforhisrelease:pay3milliongoldlouistoreleasehim.AfterKingIIwasimprisonedinLondonfor4years,hefinallypaidthehugeransomandwasabletoreturntoFrance.
OnDecember5,1360,afterhisrelease,KingIIsignedanedictanddecidedtomintacoincontaining3.87gramsofpuregoldtocommemoratethishistoricalevent.Ontheobverseofthecoinistheimageofaheroicfigurewearinganarmorandholdingasharpswordonawarhorse,meaningthatthekingwillbefreeandreturntoFrance.
Accordingtotheking’swill,thisnewcoinisnamedafter"Liberty".TheFrenchwordfor"free"isFRANC,andthetransliterationintoChineseis"Franc."Countingfromthecoiningofthegoldfrancin1360,thefranccanberegardedasoneoftheoldestcurrenciesintheworld.
Thesecondkingcreatedthefranc,buthefailedtoestablishthestatusofthelegislativefrancasanofficialcurrency.Inthemiddleofthe15thcentury,CharlesVIIabolishedthefrancandrestoredtheoriginalcurrency-thegoldenlouis.DuringtheRenaissance,KingLouiswasreplacedbyDayton.Thecurrencyname"Dayston"comesfromItaly,anditsoriginalmeaningis"head".KingLouisXIIofFranceadmiredtheengravingoftheheadsofsuccessivekingsontheItaliancurrencyduringtheItalianWar.AfterreturningtoChina,heorderedhisheadtobecastontheFrenchcurrency.name.
In1789,theFrenchRevolutionbrokeout,andthefrancwasreintroducedintocirculationaftermorethan300yearsofsilence.In1803,Napoleonissuedadecreethatestablishedthefranc'sstatusasanationalcurrency.Sincethen,thefranchasbeenthebasicunitoftheFrenchcurrencysystem.AsFrance'seconomicstrengthincreased,thefrancbecamethestrongestcurrencyinEuropeatthattime,andafranczonecenteredonFranceincludingItaly,SwitzerlandandBelgiumwasformed.UndertheinitiativeofFrancein1865,France,Italy,SwitzerlandandBelgiumconvenedameetinginParistoannouncetheformationoftheLatinCurrencyLeague.Greece,Spain,Romania,VenezuelaandothercountrieslaterjoinedandimplementedagoldandsilvercurrencysystembasedontheFrenchsystem.NapoleonIIIevenputforwardtheideaofestablishingaworldcurrencyunionbasedonfrancsin1867.
Currencyrecovery
AftertheissuanceoftheeuroonJanuary1,2002,thefranchasgraduallyceasedtocirculate.StartingatmidnightonFebruary17,2002,Franceendedthefrancprematurely-Duringtheeurotransitionperiod,thefrancceasedtocirculatelegally.
Afterthis,theFrenchcanstillexchangetheirfrancsintoeurosatbanksandpostofficesuntilJune30.FromJuly1,theywillneedtoexchangeattheBankofFranceortheNationalTreasury,thecentralbankofFrance.Thetermofbanknotesis10years,andthetermofcoinsis3years.
TheBankofFrancestoppedexchangingsomeoldfrancbanknotesin2002,andafter2005,theCorneilleseries(5francs,100franks)or10francs(Berlioz)seriesbanknotescannolongerbeexchanged.EUR.ThereareonlythefollowingtypesoffrancsincirculationinFrance(availableuntilFebruary17,2012),whichare:
-500francs"PierreCurieandMarieCurie"(PierreCurieandMarieCurie)etMarieCurie,issuedinMarch1995)
-200francs"GustaveEiffel"(issuedinOctober1996)
-100francs"Cezanne"(PaulCezanne,issuedinDecember1997),
-20francs"Debussy"(Debussy,issuedinOctober1981).Thefollowingoldstylescanbeuseduntil2009
-50francs"Saint-Exupery"(Saint-Exupery,issuedinOctober1993)
-500francs"Pascal""(Pascal,issuedinJanuary1969),
-200francs"Montesquieu"(Montesquieu,issuedinJuly1982),
-100francs"de"LaCroix"(Delacroix,issuedinAugust1979)
-50francs"QuentindeLaTour"(issuedinApril1977)
InadditiontobeingusedinFrance,theFrenchfrancwasoncethecurrencyofMonacoandAndorra.Bothcountrieshavealsoswitchedtotheeuro.
Printingfeatures
Paper
Frenchfrancpaperisextremelythin,onlyhalfofordinarypaper.Thepaperiscloth-like,withlongfibers,highdensity,goodstiffness,noteasytobreak,lint-freeafterlong-termuse,andnotsoft.
Counterprint
Itisnotlikeotherbanknotes,whereacounterprintpatternisseparatelyprintedonacertainpartofthebanknote.TheportraitoftheFrenchfrancisprintedonbothsidesatatime,thefrontandbackportraitsarethesame,andtheperspectiveiscompletelyoverlapped.Inaddition,theoutersocket,watermarkwindowandsomedenominationnumbersofthebanknoteareprintedinpairs.Weknowthatthecounter-printingtechnologyisoneoftheimportantmeansofanti-counterfeitingofbanknotes.Thereisnodoubtthatthismethodofcounter-printingoffrancsisveryeffectiveinpreventingcounterfeitingofbanknotes.
Patternprinting
ThemainpatternofFrenchfrancbanknotesiscoloroverprintedintoapattern,andthenthroughblackgravure,thethemeofthepatternishighlightedandthepatternisrich,clearandmorecolorful.Fullofthree-dimensionaleffect,withtheeffectofoilpainting.
Serialnumber
Frenchfrancshavethreesetsofnumbers.Onesetisaserialnumber,usuallyconsistingofnineortenArabicnumerals,locatedintheuppermiddleofthefrontofthebanknote.Theotherlevelistheproofreadingnumber,whichconsistsoffiveorsixdigits,whichisthesameasthelastfewdigitsoftheserialnumber.Thereisalsoachecknumber,whichiscomposedofaletterandtwoorthreeArabicnumerals.
After1993,theBankofFranceissuednewbanknotesof50francs,200francsand500francs.Thenewversionofthebanknotechangestothepreviousprintingstyle,thepaperisnotasthinastheoriginal,andthewindowsecuritylineisadded.Theportraitisnolongeracomplementaryprintofthefrontandback,andthefaceischangedtovariouspatterns,andtheofficialsignatureischangedtothebackofthebanknote.Theoriginalproofreadingnumberiscancelled,andtheserialnumberischangedtoonesetonthefrontandback.
Oldcurrencyexchange
SinceJanuary1,2002,EUresidentswillnolongerhaveproblemswithcurrencyexchangeduetotheuseoftheeuro.Thisnewcurrencycirculatesamong12countriesinEurope(thenationalcurrencyofeachcountryceasestobeused).
Forholdersofoldcurrenciesinothercountries,theycangotodesignatedbankinginstitutionstoexchangethem(ParisareaisgenerallyopenfromMondaytoFridayfrom10:00to17:00,andinotherprovincesfromTuesdaytoSaturday,Itisoftenclosedbetween13:00and14:00).
Automaticexchangemachinescanbeseenalmosteverywhereinbusinessdistricts.
Bankbusinesshours
ParisregionalbanksaregenerallyopenfromMondaytoFridayfrom10:00to17:00,andfromTuesdaytoSaturdayinotherprovinces.Itisclosedbetween13:00and15:00).SomeopenearlyonSaturdays.Notethatontheeveoftheholiday,thebankwillcloseearly.
Exchangeallbankinginstitutionsandpostofficescanredeem.Youcanalsofindexchangepointsnearlargeshoppingmalls,stations,airportsandtouristplaces.Note:Eveniftheexchangerateisfixed,thehandlingfeewillbedifferent.Thehandlingfeewillbeclearlymarked.
Othercountries
ExceptforFrance,SwitzerlandandBelgiumintheformerLatinCurrencyLeaguebothusefrancsastheircurrencyunit.LiechtensteinusesSwissfrancs.Luxembourgalsousedthefrancafteritsindependence(BelgiumandLuxembourgnowusetheeuro).
TheofficialcurrenciesofthefollowingcountriesthatoncebelongedtothecoloniesofFranceandBelgiumarealsocalledfrancs:Guinea,Djibouti,Rwanda,Burundi,Congo,Comoros.
Inaddition,theeightcountriesofBenin,BurkinaFaso,Côted’Ivoire,Guinea-Bissau,Mali,Niger,SenegalandTogousetheWestAfricanfranc.Cameroon,CentralAfrica,Chad,RepublicofCongo,EquatorThesixcountriesofGuineaandGabonusetheCentralAfricanfranc,whichisequivalentbutnotcirculated.TheyareoftencollectivelyreferredtoastheAfricanfranc(the"AfricanFrancZone"has15countries,includingtheComorosinadditiontotheabove14countries).
TheoriginallegalcurrencyofMadagascaristheMadagascarfranc.FromJanuary1,2005,itwillbetransferredtotheMalagasyariary.