The formation and development of the monetary system of France was significantly influenced by the specifics of the historical process of the formation of this state. Until the middle of the XIV century, this country did not have its own banknotes, and Roman gold denarii coins were used in circulation. France, whose coins are presented in this material, how the republic was formed in the XVIII century.
Old french coins
After the collapse of the Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and the appearance of Franks on the map, Roman banknotes gradually lose their dominant position. The reason for this was the significant wear of these coins. On the territory of the French state, they begin to mint their own banknotes. At first, only silver coins were put into circulation, but over time, gold coins. Counting notes in France appeared as a result of the reform carried out by King Charlemagne. They were called livres, su or denarii. By the way, it will be said that the Frankish monarchs tried to make the minting of banknotes centralized. However, over time, the royal release of money is on the decline, and local rulers begin to make their own coins.
Medieval coins of France
With the onset of the Hundred Years War in 1360, the first national currency appeared in circulation in France. The new signs were called francs and contained the image of the king with the Latin phrase FRANCORUM REX, which was translated only as “king of the francs”. Charles V launched the process of producing coins with the full-height image of the monarch on them. Such banknotes were called “pedestrian franc”.
Gold coins were made until the middle of the 15th century. During the reign of King Louis XI, the ecu replaced the franc. Nevertheless, from 1575 to 1586. silver francs were launched into circulation, which had a mass of 14.188 grams. The minting of these silver coins of the 833rd test by medieval French cities was carried out and subject to control until 1642. Along with this, representatives of the aristocratic class made their own money, which France recognized. Coins in circulation in the territories controlled by England were called “Anglo-Gallic”.
Coins of the XVII-XIX centuries
By the middle of the XVII century, ecu minted from silver came to the first position in the state's monetary system. A little later, France switched to the decimal order. So, 1 franc consisted of 10 desimes or 100 centimes. Coins of France - franc weighing 5 grams - contained 4.5 grams of pure silver. In addition, ¼, ½, one, two and five francs were minted. A little later, gold francs of five, ten, twenty, forty, fifty and one hundred were added to these coins. During the First Republic, in accordance with the law of August 15, 1795, the franc became the official state monetary unit.
It will be useful to say that such a phenomenon as bimetallism was used not only by France over the course of the next century. Gold and silver coins were the main payment instrument of the time in countries that were members of the Latin Monetary Union. In that era, the “exchange rate” ratio of gold and silver money was 15.5 to 1. In addition, paper notes were put into circulation. True, within three years these francs depreciated, and a solid monetary unit finally received the status of the main one at the state level.
Modern french coins
After the end of World War II, there was a persistent tendency to various attempts to improve and develop the economy of European countries. France was no exception. Coins are gradually giving way to other means of payment, which was a consequence of the implementation of a certain monetary policy of the country's leadership. To tame inflation, a decision was made to switch to a paper-credit monetary system. Since then, the number of paper notes and coins has been steadily declining. At the same time, the share of demand deposits and plastic cards increased.
And already in 2002, the French franc was completely withdrawn from circulation. He was replaced by the currency of the united Europe - the euro.