French franc: French franc2

New franc

The value of the new French franc, in 2007 euros. Years shaded in light blue indicate fixed exchange rate to the euro.

In January 1960 the French franc was revalued at 100 existing francs. Old one- and two-franc pieces continued to circulate as centimes (no new centimes were minted for the first two years), 100 of them making a nouveau franc (the abbreviation NF was used on banknotes for some time). Inflation continued to erode the currency's value, but much more slowly than that of some other countries. The one-centime coin never circulated widely. Only one further major devaluation occurred (in August 1969) before the Bretton Woods system was replaced by free-floating exchange rates. Nonetheless, when the Euro replaced the franc on 1 January 1999, the franc was worth less than an eighth of its original 1960 value^{[citation needed]}.

The old franc pieces were gradually withdrawn. They ceased to be legal tender in January 2002, upon the official adoption of the euro.

After revaluation and the introduction of the new franc, many French people continued to speak of old francs (anciens francs), to describe large sums. For example, lottery prizes were often advertised in amounts of centimes, equivalent to the old franc. 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 was clear that the speaker did not mean 1000 new francs. The expression "heavy franc" (franc lourd) was also commonly used to designate the new franc.

[edit]Economic and Monetary Union

From 1 January 1999, the value exchange rate of the French franc against the euro was set at a fixed parity of 1 EUR=6.55957 FRF. Euro coins and notes replaced the franc entirely between 1 January and 17 February 2002.

[edit]Coins

[edit]To World War I

The third coins were issued in denominations of 1 and 5 centimes, 1 and 2 decimes (in copper), quarter, half, 1, 2, and 5 francs (in silver), and 20 and 40 francs (in gold). Copper coins were not issued between 1801 and 1848, leaving the quarter-franc as the smallest coin being minted. During this period, copper coins from the previous currency system circulated, with a one-sou coin being valued at 5 centimes.

Bronze coinage was introduced from 1848, and coins worth 1, 2, 5 and 10 centimes were issued from 1853. The quarter-franc was discontinued, with silver 20-centime coins issued between 1849 and 1868. The gold coinage also changed at this time, with 40- franc coins no longer produced and 5-, 10-, 50- and 100-franc coins introduced. The last gold 5-franc pieces were minted in 1869, and silver 5-franc coins were last minted in 1878. Nickel 25-centime coins were introduced in 1903.

[edit]World War I

The First World War brought substantial changes to the coinage. Gold coinage was suspended, and holed 5, 10 and 25 centimes minted in nickel or cupro-nickel were introduced. In 1920, production of bronze and silver coinage ceased, with aluminium-bronze 50-centime, and 1- and 2-franc coins introduced. Until 1929, these coins were issued by the Chambers of Commerce of France. During the same period, local Chambers of Commerce also issued small change coins. In 1929, silver coins were reintroduced in 10- and 20-franc denominations.

[edit]World War II till reform

The Second World War also affected the coinage substantially. Zinc 10- and 20-centime pieces were introduced, along with aluminium coins of 50 centimes, and 1 and 2 francs. Following the war, rapid inflation caused denominations below 1 franc to be withdrawn and coin denominations of 5 in aluminium and aluminium-bronze, 10 in copper nickel then aluminium-bronze from 1950, along with a 20 and 50 franc also in aluminium-bronze, the copper-nickel 100 francs were introduced in 1954.

[edit]New franc

In 1960, the new franc was introduced, worth 100 of the old francs. Stainless steel 1- and 5-centime, aluminium-bronze 10-, 20- and 50-centime, nickel one-franc and silver 5-franc coins were introduced. Silver 10-franc pieces were introduced in 1965, followed by aluminium-bronze 5-centime and nickel half-franc coins in 1966.

Nickel clad cupro-nickel 5-franc and nickel-brass 10-franc coins replaced their silver counterparts in 1970 and 1974, respectively. Nickel 2 francs were introduced in 1979, followed by bimetallic 10 and 20 francs in 1988 and 1992, respectively. The 20-franc coin was composed of two rings and a centre plug.

French new franc coins

A nickel 10-franc piece was issued in 1986, but was quickly withdrawn and demonetized due to confusion with the half-franc and an unpopular design. The aluminium-bronze pieces continued to circulate until the bimetallic pieces were developed and additional aluminium-bronze coins were minted to replace those initially withdrawn. Once the bi-metallic coins were circulating the aluminium-bronze pieces were withdrawn and demonetized. A silver 50-franc piece was issued from 1974–1980, but was withdrawn and demonetized after the price of silver spiked in 1980. A 100-franc piece, in silver, was issued, and circulated to a small extent, until the introduction of the euro. All French franc coins were demonetized in 2005 and are no longer redeemable at the Banque de France.

At the time of the complete changeover to the euro on 1 January 2002, coins in circulation (some still produced in 2000) were:

1 centime (~ 0.15 eurocents) stainless steel, rarely circulated (last production stopped around 1982 due to high production cost, and lack of demand for it due to its very low value).
5 centimes (~ 0.76 eurocents) aluminium-bronze
10 centimes (~ 1.5 eurocents) aluminium-bronze
20 centimes (~ 3.05 eurocents) aluminium-bronze
½ franc (~ 7.6 eurocents) nickel
1 franc (~ 15.2 eurocents) nickel
2 francs (~ 30.5 eurocents) nickel
5 francs (~ 76 eurocents) nickel clad copper-nickel
10 francs (~ €1.50) bimetallic
20 francs (~ €3) trimetallic, rarer (produced for a short period before the euro, the banknote equivalent was much more frequently used)
100 francs (~ €15) silver, rarely circulated (most often bought and offered as personal gifts, but rare in commercial transactions, now worth more than its face value).

[edit]Euro exchange

Coins were freely exchangeable until 17 February 2005 at Banque de France only (some commercial banks could still perform it but were not required to offer this service for free after the transition period in 2001), by converting their total value in francs to euros (rounded to the nearest eurocent) at the official fixed rate of 6.55957 francs for 1 euro. Banknotes are officially convertible up to 17 February 2012.^[1]

[edit]Banknotes

The first franc paper money issues were made in 1795. They were assignats in denominations between 100 and 10,000 francs. These followed in 1796 by "territorial mandate promises" for 25 up to 500 francs. The treasury also issued notes that year for 25 up to 1000 francs.

In 1800, the Bank of France began issuing notes, first in denominations of 500 and 1000 francs. In the 1840s, 100- and 200-franc notes were added, while 5-, 20- and 50- francs were added in the 1860s and 70s, although the 200-franc note was discontinued.

The First World War saw the introduction of 10- and 5000-franc notes but, despite base metal 5-franc coins being introduced after the war, the banknotes were not removed.

In 1944, the liberating Allies introduced paper money in denominations between 2 and 1000 francs. Following the war, 10,000-franc notes were introduced, while 5-, 10- and 20-franc notes were replaced by coins, as were the 50- and 100-franc notes in the 1950s.

The first issue of the new franc consisted of 500-, 1000-, 5000- and 10,000-franc notes overprinted with their new denominations of 5, 10, 50 and 100 new francs. This issue was followed by notes of the same design but with only the new denomination shown. 500-new franc notes were also introduced at this time. 5- and 10- franc notes were withdrawn in 1970 and 1979, respectively.

Banknotes in circulation when the franc was replaced were:^[2]

20 francs (€3.05) : Claude Debussy Brown
50 francs (€7.62) : Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Blue (introduced 20 October 1993, replacing Maurice Quentin de la Tour)
100 francs (€15.24) : Paul Cézanne Orange (introduced 15 December 1997, replacing Eugène Delacroix)
200 francs (€30.49) : Gustave Eiffel Red (introduced 29 October 1996, replacing Montesquieu)
500 francs (€76.22) : Pierre and Marie Curie Green (introduced 22 March 1995, replacing Blaise Pascal)

Banknotes of the current series as of euro changeover may be exchanged with the French central bank or services like GFC until 17 February 2012. Most older series were exchangeable for 10 years from date of withdrawal. As the last banknote from the previous series had been withdrawn on 31 March 1998 (200 francs Montesquieu), the deadline for the exchange was on 31 March 2008. This means that from this day on, banknotes from older series can no longer be exchanged.