French Franc

The French franc was the currency of France until the euro was adopted in 1999 (by law, 2002 de facto). The franc was also used in Francophone countries, often as legal tender, or in common parlance referring to all French-speaking countries, not just France. The countries where the franc was used included Algeria, Andorra, Belgium, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Comoros, Congo-Brazzaville, Congo-Kinshasa, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, France, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mali, Monaco, Mauritania, Mauritius, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Switzerland and Vanuatu. It was also formerly, in former French colonies and protectorates, the currency in many French-speaking African countries, such as Ivory Coast and Senegal. The franc was created as a result of the Latin Monetary Union (LMU) in 1865. The U.S. dollar did not participate, and as a result, after the LMU ended in 1873, the franc remained strong relative to other currencies. France eventually joined the Bretton Woods system in 1944, but was forced to devalue the franc in 1958. This, combined with high inflation, led to the creation of the new franc (NF) in 1960. At its introduction, the NF was worth 100 old francs. The franc was initially pegged to the U.S. dollar at a rate of 1 franc = 1.4575 dollars. This was changed to 1 franc = 1.6 dollars in 1967. The peg was maintained until the early 1980s, when the franc came under pressure from currency speculators. In 1982, the franc was devalued by 9.1% against the U.S. dollar, and in 1983 it was devalued again by 6.8%. The franc was eventually allowed to float in September 1992. It reached a low of 1.38 francs against the U.S. dollar in March 1993, but has since recovered somewhat, and was trading at around 1.20 francs to the dollar in September 2003. The franc was used as the official currency of the French Empire and its successor states, the French Republic, and as such was used in many places around the world. When the euro was introduced in 1999, the franc was replaced as the official currency of France, but continued to be used in some French overseas territories and in Monaco. The franc was also used in several other countries, including Belgium, Luxembourg and Switzerland.