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76-402: Construction took two years and was completed in 1893 at a cost of 2.25 million Goldmarks (equivalent to 16 million 2021 €) and named König-Albert-Brücke in honor of Albert, King of Saxony . In the 19th century, a bridge of this length without supporting river piers was considered a technological masterpiece. Today the technology is less miraculous, but the bridge is a much-loved symbol of

152-569: A 1-centime copper coin with a 1795 design. 2, 5 and 10-centime coins were issued from 1853. The quarter franc was discontinued, with silver 20-centime coins issued between 1849 and 1868 as the smallest silver coin produced in France. The gold coinage also changed. 40-franc coins were last struck in 1839 (with just 23 coins minted). Several new denomination were introduced as gold coinage: 5 gold francs (1856), 10 gold francs (1850), 50 gold francs (1855), and 100 gold francs (1855). A second design for

228-534: A French Mark of fine gold (hence, 3.885 g in a franc). Gold as circulating currency would henceforth continue in the form of Écu d'ors of varying gold content. The gold franc worth one livre tournois was introduced in 1360 to pay the ransom of King John II of France . This coin secured the king's freedom and showed him on a richly decorated horse earning it the name franc à cheval (meaning "free on horse" in French). The obverse legend, like other French coins, gives

304-619: A Mark of silver, 11/12 fine (hence 27.03 g fine silver), and valued at 6 livres. A new gold Louis d'Or was also issued at 30 to a Mark of gold, 11/12 fine (hence 7.4785 g fine gold), and valued at 24 livres. The rise in the value of gold at the onset of the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain and elsewhere as well as King Louis XVI 's reign led to the rise in the Gold-Silver Ratio to 15.5, resulting in

380-560: A decentralized realm of Frankish feudal rulers, many of whom claimed the right to issue currency within their own domains, and often resorting to currency debasements in moments of stringency. While monetary values as proclaimed by French kings would eventually be identified as the Livre Parisis , other regions almost always got by with currencies of lower standard. One such currency, the Livre Tournois , would eventually become

456-481: A decimal unit (1 franc = 10 décimes = 100 centimes) of 4.5 g of fine silver . This was slightly less than the livre of 4.505 g, but the franc was set in 1796 at 1.0125 livres (1 livre, 3 deniers ), reflecting in part the past minting of sub-standard coins. Silver coins now had their denomination clearly marked as "5 FRANCS" and it was made obligatory to quote prices in francs. This ended the ancien régime's practice of striking coins with no stated denomination, such as

532-583: A desire to move to the gold standard . For this system a new unit mark was proposed equal to a drittelthaler or 1 ⁄ 3 Vereinsthaler, also equal to 1 ⁄ 2 the Austrian gulden, but decimally divided into 100 pfennig instead of the existing 120 pfennig. Combined with a gold-silver ratio of 15.5, the new mark of 5 + 5 ⁄ 9 g fine silver was therefore equivalent to 100 ⁄ 279 g fine gold. With 5 billion gold francs (equivalent to 4.05 billion gold marks) secured from France at

608-516: A private board of executives, was created and commissioned to produce the national currency. In 1803, the Franc germinal (named after the month Germinal in the revolutionary calendar ) was established, creating a gold franc containing 290.034 mg of fine gold. From this point, gold and silver-based units circulated interchangeably on the basis of a 1:15.5 ratio between the values of the two metals ( bimetallism ) until 1864, when all silver coins except

684-504: A standard of 5 grams silver per mark. Production of 2 and 5 mark coins ceased in 1915 while 1-mark coins continued to be issued until 1916. A few 3 mark coins were minted until 1918, and 1 ⁄ 2 mark coins continued to be issued in silver until 1919. These silver coins are token or subsidiary currency for the gold mark and are therefore legal tender only up to 20 marks. However, all silver 3-mark Vereinsthaler s issued before 1871 enjoyed unlimited legal tender status even after

760-606: A standing figure of the king on its obverse, pictured under a canopy. Its value in money of account was one livre tournois, just like the franc à cheval , and this coin is universally known as a franc à pied . In accordance with the theories of the mathematician, economist and royal advisor Nicole Oresme , Charles struck fewer coins of better quality gold than his ancestors. In the accompanying deflation, both prices and wages fell, but wages fell faster and debtors had to settle up in better money than they had borrowed. The Mayor of Paris, Étienne Marcel , exploited their discontent to lead

836-415: A term for this amount of money. It was reintroduced (in decimal form ) in 1795. After two centuries of inflation, it was redenominated in 1960, with each new franc ( NF ) being worth 100 old francs. The NF designation was continued for a few years before the currency returned to being simply the franc. Many French residents, though, continued to quote prices of especially expensive items in terms of

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912-613: A troy ounce of gold was worth 86.78 ℳ︁). Gold coin production ceased in 1915. 5-mark gold coins were minted only in 1877 and 1878. Gold marks are a popular choice for Latin Currency Union coin collectors. The 20 mark is the most seen and offers a variety of different types that were mass-produced and therefore can be purchased at a low premium above each coin's melt value. However, some designs are extremely elusive given that they were struck in very low mintages. The rarest type features Adolph Friedrich V with just 1,160 pieces issued by

988-594: The Papiermark (paper mark) which suffered a serious loss of value through hyperinflation following World War I during hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic . For comparison, from 1900 to 1933, the United States adhered to a gold standard as well with the gold dollar containing 1.50463 grams (23.22 grains ) fine gold; it was therefore worth 4.198 gold marks. The monetary hegemon of the time when

1064-648: The Carolingian monetary system of the 8th century AD, and more specifically to the Livre Tournois , an offshoot of the same system which emerged in the 13th century. Here is a table of changes to the value of the Livre Parisis and the Livre Tournois in terms of silver or gold until the French Franc was introduced in 1795. Emperor Charlemagne's monetary system was introduced in 781 AD to

1140-516: The Euro replaced the franc on 1 January 1999, the franc was worth less than an eighth of its original 1960 purchasing power. After revaluation and the introduction of the new franc, many French people continued to use the term "old francs" ( anciens francs ) for large sums, for example for the prices of houses, apartments, and cars. This was common until the introduction of the euro and even later. Many people, old and young – even those who had never used

1216-625: The Habsburg Netherlands . The loose enforcement of monetary standards in the Dutch provinces resulted in a significant 1 ⁄ 3 rd reduction in the value of the French livre by 1549, with debasements continuing into the 17th century. The French ounce (30.594 g) of fine silver was raised in value from 1 to 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 Livre Parisis (or from 25 to 37 + 1 ⁄ 2 sols Tournois). The écu au soleil of 3.2754 g fine gold

1292-474: The Jacquerie revolt which forced Charles V out of the city. The franc fared better. It became associated with money stable at one livre tournois. A certain degree of peace achieved at the start of the 15th century helped settle the value of French currency. After 1422 the gros of 1 sol Parisis was minted at 96 to a French Mark, 3 ⁄ 4 fine (hence 1.912 g per gros), while the Écu of 20 sols Parisis

1368-541: The Louis d'or , and periodically issuing royal edicts to manipulate their value in terms of money of account, i.e. the Livre tournois . The franc became the official currency of France in 1799. Coinage with explicit denominations in decimal fractions of the franc also began in 1795. Decimalization of the franc was mandated by an act of 7 April 1795, which also dealt with the decimalization of weights and measures . France led

1444-745: The November Revolution of 1918, the mark was succeeded by the Weimar Republic 's mark, derisively referred to as the Papiermark ( lit.   ' Paper mark ' ) due to hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic from 1918 to 1923. The introduction of the German mark in 1873 was the culmination of decades-long efforts to unify the various currencies used by the German Confederation . The Zollverein unified in 1838

1520-470: The Republican U.S. federal government and World War Foreign Debts Commission that France's war debts be repaid within 25 years at a minimal 4.25 percent interest per year. The currency devaluation contributed to French demands for high reparations payments from Germany . After a brief return to the gold standard between 1928 and 1936, the currency was allowed to resume its slide, until in 1959 it

1596-494: The Vereinsthaler being a silver standard currency, it remained unlimited legal tender for 3 gold marks until it was demonetized in 1908. The South German gulden of 4 ⁄ 7 Vereinsthaler was converted to 1 + 5 ⁄ 7 or 1.71 gold marks. The gold-based Bremen thaler was converted directly to the mark at a rate of 1 Thaler gold = 3 + 9 ⁄ 28 or 3.32 marks. The Hamburg mark courant or currency

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1672-786: The Vichy regime added. After the Liberation , the US attempted to impose the use of the US occupation franc , which was averted by General De Gaulle . After World War II, France devalued its currency within the Bretton Woods system on several occasions. Beginning in 1945 at a rate of 480 francs to the British Pound (119.1 to the U.S. dollar ), by 1949 the rate was 980 to the Pound (350 to

1748-565: The end of the Franco-Prussian War , the new currency was launched in 1873 in the form of gold 10-mark and 20-mark coins as well as limited legal-tender silver marks and copper pfennigs. The German Empire 's conversion to the gold standard led to the same being adopted in the rest of Europe and North America, as well as the change in standard in the Latin Monetary Union from bimetallism to solely gold. Despite

1824-461: The 1-ounce silver coins coming out of Spain, the Netherlands and Germany, leading to the 1641 currency reform under King Louis XIII . Henry III exploited the association of the franc as sound money worth one livre tournois when he sought to stabilize French currency in 1577. By this time, inflows of gold and silver from Spanish America had caused inflation throughout the world economy and

1900-404: The 100 gold franc coin was released in 1878 depicting standing genius writing the constitution. The pictured example (1889) was issued as a proof and only 100 coins were struck. The last gold 5-franc pieces were minted in 1869, and silver 5-franc coins were last minted in 1878. After 1815, the 20-franc gold coin was called a " napoléon " (royalists still called this coin a " louis "), and so that

1976-545: The 1420s also resulted in the 1434 realignment of the Flemish monetary system with the French livre. The new Flemish Guilder (Pound) of 20 Stuiver (shilling) contained 32.6 g fine silver and was approximately par with the Livre Parisis of 20 sols (38.24 g). Such parities between the French livres to the Flemish and English currencies would persist up to the 1560s and would facilitate the issue of identical coin denominations across these countries. The Great Bullion Famine of

2052-432: The 5-franc piece were debased from 90% to 83.5% silver without the weights changing. This coinage included the first modern gold coins with denominations in francs. It abandoned the revolutionary symbols of the coinage 1795, now showing Napoleon in the manner of Roman emperors , first described as "Bonaparte Premier Consul" and with the country named as "République Française". After his coronation in 1804 coins changed

2128-601: The Berlin Mint.   Banknotes were issued by the Imperial Treasury (known as "Reichskassenschein") and the Reichsbank , as well as by the banks of some of the states. Imperial Treasury notes were issued in denominations of 5, 10, 20 and 50 Mark, whilst Reichsbank notes were produced in denominations of 20, 50, 100 and 1000 Mark. The notes issued after 1914 are referred to as Papiermark . In Unicode,

2204-534: The Dollar). This was reduced further in 1957 and 1958, reaching 1382.3 to the Pound (493.7 to the Dollar, equivalent to 1 franc = 1.8 mg pure gold). In January 1960 the French franc was revalued, with 100 existing francs making one nouveau franc . The abbreviation "NF" was used on the 1958 design banknotes until 1963. Old one- and two-franc coins continued to circulate as new centimes (no new centimes were minted for

2280-547: The Frankish Carolingian Empire and spread over the centuries to much of Western Europe , with a Livre (pound) of silver divided into 20 Sols or Sous (shillings) and the Sol divided into 12 Deniers (penny). Only the denier existed as a coin for the next 500 years, with the sou and livre functioning as accounting multiples of the denier. The first livre and denier weighed 407.92 g and 1.7 g, respectively, of

2356-574: The Mark sign is U+2133 ℳ SCRIPT CAPITAL M . The Pfennig is U+20B0 ₰ GERMAN PENNY SIGN . French franc The franc ( / f r æ ŋ k / ; French : franc français , [fʁɑ̃ fʁɑ̃sɛ] ; sign : F or Fr ), also commonly distinguished as the French franc ( FF ), was a currency of France . Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as

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2432-438: The Mark, 23 + 1 ⁄ 8 karats fine (3.2754 g fine gold), and was valued at 25 Sols Parisis. The close of the 15th century saw the beginnings of a more centralized French currency system and the discontinuation of competing currency systems within France. The Livre Parisis of 1 French ounce approximately matched the silver content of 1 ⁄ 6 th pound sterling (1 troy ounce of sterling silver). It would also become

2508-618: The Prussian and South German currencies at a fixed rate of 1 Prussian thaler = 1 + 3 ⁄ 4 South German gulden = 16.704 g fine silver. A larger currency convention in 1857 replaced the Prussian thaler with the Vereinsthaler of 16 + 2 ⁄ 3 g fine silver, equivalent to 1 North German thaler , 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 Austro-Hungarian florins , or 1 + 3 ⁄ 4 South German gulden . Unification to this system proceeded further due to German Unification in 1871 as well as monetary conventions from 1865 to 1870 expressing

2584-622: The Republic: the old gold and silver coins were taken out of circulation and exchanged for printed assignats , initially issued as bonds backed by the value of the confiscated goods of churches, but later declared as legal tender currency . The withdrawn gold and silver coins were used to finance the French Revolutionary Wars and to import food, which was in short supply. As during the " Mississippi Bubble " in 1715–1720, too many assignats were put in circulation, exceeding

2660-521: The adoption of the gros tournois to the rest of Western Europe. Towards the reign of King Philip IV le Bel came pressures to further debase the denier, which occurred in 1317 when the Gros Tournois was raised to 15 deniers Tournois or 12 deniers (1 sol) Parisis , thus commencing the fixed parity of 4 deniers Parisis to 5 deniers Tournois . While French kings would continue to prescribe coin values in multiples of 4 and 12 deniers Parisis until

2736-494: The city. The original bridge toll ended during the hyperinflation of 1923. Towards the end of World War II , an SS unit attempted to destroy the bridge, but this was prevented when two people cut the detonator wires. Preserved in its original construction, the advanced age of the structure in recent years has led to some traffic limits. Until the opening of the Waldschlösschen Bridge on 26 August 2013, it

2812-646: The end of the 15th century, the rest of France would gradually choose to recognize their increased values in multiples of 5 and 15 deniers Tournois. The start of the Hundred Years' War against England in 1337 would increase the pressure to further debase the French livre. An attempt in 1343 to reverse earlier depreciations of circulating deniers and reinstate the old 1317-era gros tournois (forte monnaie, or strong money) caused financial havoc especially with borrowers who received depreciated coins and who then had to repay debts in forte monnaie. Lower valuations for

2888-461: The finest silver available. Livres and deniers issued c.  1000 under the Capetian dynasty contained 305.94 g and 1.27475 g fine silver, respectively. The French Mark of 8 ounces was a unit of weight equal to 244.752 grams, and equal in weight to 192 deniers or 16 sols of this period. In subsequent centuries the French kings would struggle to implement fixed standards for the livre over

2964-463: The first two years). The one-centime coin never circulated widely. Inflation continued to erode the franc's value: between 1950 and 1960, price levels increased 72 per cent (5.7% per year on average); between 1960 and 1970, it increased 51 per cent (4.2%). Only one further major devaluation occurred (11% in August 1969) before the Bretton Woods system was replaced by free-floating exchange rates. When

3040-538: The franc entirely between 1 January and 1 March 2002. In August 1795, the Monetary Law replaced the livre ("pound") with the franc , which was divided into 10 décimes ("tenths") and 100 centimes ("hundredths"). Copper coins were issued in the denominations of 1 centime, 5 centimes, 1 décime, and 2 décimes, designed by Augustin Dupré . After 1801, French copper coins became rare. The 5-centime copper coin

3116-462: The franc's strength: war expenditure, inflation and postwar reconstruction, financed partly by printing ever more money, reduced the franc's purchasing power by 70% between 1915 and 1920. After a brief appreciation of the franc during the Depression of 1920–1921 , it depreciated a further 43% between 1922 and a balancing of the budget in 1926. This devaluation was aggravated by the insistence of

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3192-421: The gold mark was in use, however, was the pound sterling , with the sovereign (£1) being valued at 20.43 gold marks. World War I reparations owed by Germany were stated in gold reserves in 1921, 1929 and 1931; this was the victorious Allies' response to their fear that vanquished Germany might try to pay off the obligation in paper currency. The actual amount of reparations that Germany was obliged to pay out

3268-542: The individual states, using a standard design for the reverses (the Reichsadler , the eagle insignia of the German Empire) with a design specific to the state on the obverse, generally a portrait of the monarch of the kingdom or duchy (and not that of the emperor); while the free cities of Bremen, Hamburg, and Lübeck each used the city's coat of arms. Occasionally commemorative coins were minted, in which cases

3344-521: The king's title as Francorum Rex (" King of the Franks " in Latin) and provides another reason to call the coin a franc. John's son, Charles V , continued this type. It was copied exactly at Brabant and Cambrai and, with the arms on the horse cloth changed, at Flanders. Conquests led by Joan of Arc allowed Charles VII to return to sound coinage and he revived the franc à cheval . John II , however,

3420-444: The kings of France, who weren't getting much of this wealth, only made things worse by manipulating the values assigned to their coins. The States General which met at Blois in 1577 added to the public pressure to stop currency manipulation. Henry III agreed to do this and he revived the franc, now as a silver coin valued at one livre tournois. This coin and its fractions circulated until 1641 when Louis XIII of France replaced it with

3496-471: The livre had to be accepted subsequently as the war raged on. In 1361 the gros tournois of 15 deniers Tournois (1 sol Parisis) was minted at 84 to a French Mark of silver, 23/24 fine (hence, 2.79 g fine silver in a gros). At the same time gold flowing from Southern Europe started to become an important medium of exchange in the North, so gold francs worth 1 livre Tournois (16 sols Parisis) were minted at 63 to

3572-478: The mid-15th century resulted in yet another debasement during the reign of King Louis XI , with the Livre Parisis reduced to 1 French ounce (30.594 g) fine silver or 2.620 g fine gold. The silver gros was minted at 69 to the French Mark, 23 ⁄ 24 fine (3.4 g fine silver) and was valued at 1 ⁄ 9 th the Livre Parisis (or 2 + 2 ⁄ 9 sols). The gold écu au soleil was minted at 72 to

3648-532: The model for Germany when it started issuing the 1-ounce silver Guldengroschen divided into 21 Groschen (gros, shillings) or 252 Pfennige (pence). A considerable acceleration in the debasement of the French, English and Dutch currencies occurred during the reign of the Valois-Angoulême kings in the 16th century amidst the huge influx of precious metals from the American continent arriving through

3724-524: The name franc already being used in Switzerland and Belgium , whilst other countries minted local denominations, redeemable across the bloc with 1-to-1 parity, though with local names: e.g., the peseta . In 1873, the LMU went over to a purely gold standard of 1 franc = 0.290322581 grams of gold. The outbreak of World War I caused France to leave the gold standard of the LMU. The war severely undermined

3800-554: The obverse and (much more rarely) the reverse designs might depart from the usual pictorial standards. Many of the smaller states issued coins in very small numbers. Also, in general all states' coinage became very limited after the First World War began. Well-preserved examples of such low-mintage coins can be rare and valuable. The Principality of Lippe was the only state not to issue any gold coins in this period. Subsidiary silver coins were minted in .900 fineness to

3876-444: The obverse legend to "Napoleon Empereur", dropping his family name in the manner of regnal names . In 1807, the reverse legend changed to name France as " Empire Français ". In analogy with the old Louis d'or these coins were called Gold Napoleons . Economically, this sound money was a great success and Napoleon's fall did not change that. Succeeding governments maintained Napoleon's weight standard, with changes in design which traced

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3952-404: The old franc (equivalent to the new centime ), up to and even after the introduction of the euro (for coins and banknotes) in 2002. The French franc was a commonly held international reserve currency of reference in the 19th and 20th centuries. Between 1998 and 2002, the conversion of francs to euros was carried out at a rate of 6.55957 francs to 1 euro. The French Franc traces its origins to

4028-418: The old franc – still quoted prices in old francs, confusing tourists and people abroad. For example, lottery prizes were most often advertised in amounts of centimes, equivalent to the old franc, to inflate the perceived value of the prizes at stake. Multiples of 10NF were occasionally referred to as "mille francs" (thousand francs) or "mille balles" ("balle" being a slang word for franc) in contexts where it

4104-412: The payment of debt that Germany had acquired in the inter-war period to finance its reparation payments, paying off the principal on those debts by 1980. The interest on those debts was paid off on 3 October 2010, the 20th anniversary of German reunification . Coins of denominations between 1 pfennig and 1 mark were issued in standard designs for the whole empire, whilst those above 1 mark were issued by

4180-700: The political fall of the French Convention . Then followed the economic failure of the Directoire : coins were still very rare. After a coup d'état that led to the Consulate , the First Consul progressively acquired sole legislative power at the expense of the other unstable and discredited consultative and legislative institutions. In 1800 the Banque de France , a federal establishment with

4256-591: The political history of France. In particular, this currency system was retained during the Bourbon Restoration and perpetuated until 1914. France was a founding member of the Latin Monetary Union (LMU), a single currency employed primarily by the Romance -speaking and other Mediterranean states between 1865 and the First World War. The common currency was based on the franc germinal, with

4332-549: The preferred accounting system under a more centralized French kingdom. The emergence of the Livre Tournois as France's preferred accounting system occurred during the reign of King Louis IX with the issuance of the silver Gros tournois with 58 issued to a French Mark of silver of fineness 23 ⁄ 24 (hence 4.044 g fine silver in a gros), and valued at 1 sol (12 deniers) in France's Touraine region though valued less than 1 sol Parisis. The new coin's reputation and handling convenience versus those of debased deniers assured

4408-485: The reduced 24-livre Louis contained 6.88 g fine gold. The livre tournois was swapped in 1795 for the French Franc (or franc germinal), worth 4.5 g silver or 9 ⁄ 31 g = 0.29032 g gold (ratio 15.5), at a rate of 1 franc = 1 + 1 ⁄ 80 livres or 1 livre, 3 deniers. The decimal "franc" was established as the national currency by the National Convention of Revolutionary France in 1795 as

4484-405: The reduction in the gold content of the 24-livre Louis d'Or from 1/30th to 1/32nd of a Mark, 11/12 fine. While the silver standard remained unchanged, assays of the period indicate that coins contained approximately 1.5% less bullion than officially specified. The 1795 swapping of livres to francs at the rate of 1.0125 livres = 1 franc suggest that the 6-livre ecu contained 26.67 g fine silver while

4560-615: The silver écu . Nevertheless, the name "franc" continued in accounting as a synonym for the livre tournois . In the 17th century King Louis XIII abolished its unpopular coinage of francs and ecus in favour of Spanish-modelled coins. It also abolished the Livre Parisis system in favour of exclusive use of the Livre Tournois. The Spanish dollar was the model for the Louis d'Argent – 9 to a French Mark (244.752 g) of silver, 11 ⁄ 12 fine (hence 24.93 g fine silver), and valued at 3 livres tournois. The Spanish doubloon or two-escudo coin

4636-482: The switch-over to the gold standard . This ended with the demonetization of the Vereinsthaler in 1908 and the introduction of the new subsidiary 3-mark coins. The 5-mark coin, however, was significantly closer in value to older thalers (and other such crown-sized coins). Gold coins were minted in .900 fineness to a standard of 2,790 mark = 1 kilogram of gold (a mark was therefore about 0.3584 g of gold;

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4712-478: The value of the "national properties", and the coins, due also to military requisitioning and hoarding, rarefied to pay foreign suppliers. With national government debt remaining unpaid, and a shortage of silver and brass to mint coins, confidence in the new currency declined, leading to hyperinflation , more food riots , severe political instability and termination of the First French Republic and

4788-545: The world in adopting the metric system and it was the second country to convert from a non-decimal to a decimal currency, following Russia 's conversion in 1704, and the third country to adopt a decimal coinage, also following the United States in 1787. France's first decimal coinage used allegorical figures symbolizing revolutionary principles, like the coinage designs the United States had adopted in 1793. The circulation of this metallic currency declined during

4864-546: Was called a sou , referring to "sole" (fr. Latin: solidus ), until the 1920s. An Imperial 10-décime coin was produced in billon from 1807 to 1810. During the Consulship period (1799–1804) silver francs were struck in decimal coinage. A five-franc coin was first introduced in 1801–02 ( L'AN 10), half-franc, one-franc, and gold 40-franc coins were introduced in 1802–03 (L'AN 11), and quarter-franc and two-franc coins in 1803–04 (L'AN 12). The 5-franc silver coin

4940-424: Was called an écu , after the six-livre silver coin of the ancien regime , until the 1880s. Copper coins were rarely issued between 1801 and 1848, so the quarter franc was the lowest current denomination in circulation. But during this period, copper coins from earlier periods circulated. A Napoleon 5-centime coin (in bell metal ) and Napoleon and Restoration 1-décime coins were minted. Most pre-decimal silver

5016-550: Was clear that the speaker did not mean 1,000 new francs. The expression "heavy franc" ( franc lourd ) was also commonly used to designate the new franc. All franc coins and banknotes ceased to be legal tender in January 2002, upon the official adoption of the Euro . From 1 January 1999, the value exchange rate of the French franc against the Euro was set at a fixed parity of €1 = 6.55957 F. Euro coins and notes replaced

5092-551: Was converted at 1 mark = 1.2 Imperial marks, and the Hamburg mark banco of the Bank of Hamburg was converted at 1 mark banco = 1.5 Imperial marks. From 1 January 1876 onwards, the mark and vereinsthaler became the only legal tenders . Before 1914, the mark was on a gold standard with 2790 marks equal to 1 kilogram of pure gold (1 mark = 358 mg). The term Goldmark was created later to retrospectively distinguish it from

5168-487: Was minted at 64 to a French Mark, 22 + 1 ⁄ 2 karats or 15 ⁄ 16 fine (hence 3.585 g per écu). The gros and the écu compared favourably with England's 2-pence coin of 1.8 g silver and 40-pence ( 1 ⁄ 6 th of a pound) half-noble coin of 3.48 g gold, resulting in an approximate exchange rate of 1 pound sterling to six Livres Parisis. Peace in the Burgundian Netherlands after

5244-468: Was not able to strike enough francs to pay his ransom and he voluntarily returned to English captivity. John II died as a prisoner in England and his son Charles V was left to pick up the pieces. Charles V pursued a policy of reform, including stable coinage. An edict dated 20 April 1365 established the centrepiece of this policy, a gold coin officially called the denier d'or aux fleurs de lis which had

5320-682: Was not the 132 billion marks cited in the London Schedule of 1921 but rather the 50 billion marks stipulated in the A and B Bonds. The actual total payout from 1920 to 1931 (when payments were suspended indefinitely) was 20 billion German gold marks, worth about US$ 5 billion or £1 billion . Most of that money came from loans from New York bankers. Following the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, payments of reparations were officially abandoned. West Germany after World War II did not resume payment of reparations as such, but did resume

5396-648: Was raised in value from 25 to 37 + 1 ⁄ 2 sols Parisis (or 31 + 1 ⁄ 4 to approximately 47 sols Tournois). This 50% advance was also seen in England in 1551 when it raised its troy ounce of sterling silver from 40 to 60 pence, and in the 17th century when Germany raised its one-ounce silver Thaler from 1 to 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 silver gulden. The 16th century saw the issuance of larger silver coins, first in testoons (9 g fine silver, valued at 11 sols Tournois in 1549), and later on in silver francs (12.3 g fine silver, valued at 1 Livre Tournois in 1577). These French coins, however, were much less popular than

5472-425: Was removed from circulation by 1834. Until they were also demonetized in 1845, 15- and 30-sou coins from 1791-1793 continued to circulate with a value of 0.75 and 1.50 francs, and 18th-century billon coins that had come to be known as “pièces de 6 liards” (originally issued with various values) were valued at 7.5 centimes. A new bronze coinage was introduced from 1848. The Second Republic Monetary Authority minted

5548-586: Was the currency of the German Empire , which spanned from 1871 to 1918. The mark was paired with the minor unit of the pfennig (₰); 100 pfennigs were equivalent to 1 mark. The mark was on the gold standard from 1871 to 1914, but like most nations during World War I , the German Empire removed the gold backing in August 1914, and gold coins ceased to circulate. After the fall of the Empire due to

5624-522: Was the model for the Louis d'Or – 36 + 1 ⁄ 4 to a French Mark of gold, 11 ⁄ 12 fine (hence 6.189 g fine gold), and valued at 10 livres. France entered another turbulent period during the War of the Spanish Succession from 1701 to 1714, resulting in another debasement of the livre tournois. Under King Louis XV 's reign in 1726 the silver Écu d'Argent was issued at 8.3 to

5700-817: Was the only Elbe crossing east of the city centre. The surrounding area of 19.3 km (7.5 sq mi) of the Elbe meadows was declared a cultural World Heritage Site by the UNESCO in 2004, but lost the title in 2009 following the construction of the Waldschlösschen Bridge, meant to relieve congestion on the Blue Wonder . 51°03′13″N 13°48′39″E  /  51.05361°N 13.81083°E  / 51.05361; 13.81083 German gold mark The German mark ( German : Goldmark [ˈɡɔltmaʁk] ; sign : ℳ︁ )

5776-537: Was worth less than 2.5% of its 1934 value. During the Nazi occupation of France (1940–44), the franc was a satellite currency of the German Reichsmark . The exchange rate was 20 francs for 1 RM. The coins were changed, with the words Travail, famille, patrie (Work, Family, Fatherland) replacing the Republican triad Liberté, égalité, fraternité (Liberty, Equality, Fraternity), with the emblem of

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