The (; ; abbreviation: ₶.) was one of numerous currencies used in
medieval France
The Kingdom of France in the Middle Ages (roughly, from the 10th century to the middle of the 15th century) was marked by the fragmentation of the Carolingian Empire and West Francia (843–987); the expansion of royal control by the House of ...
, and a
unit of account
In economics, unit of account is one of the money functions. A unit of account is a standard numerical monetary unit of measurement of the market value of goods, services, and other transactions. Also known as a "measure" or "standard" of rela ...
(i.e., a monetary unit used in accounting) used in
Early Modern France.
The 1262 monetary reform established the as 20 , or 80.88
grams of
fine silver. The was a gold coin of one minted in large numbers from 1360.
In 1549, the was decreed a unit of account, and in 1667 it officially replaced the .
In 1720, the was redefined as 0.31 grams of pure gold, and in 1726, in a devaluation under
Louis XV
Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reache ...
, as 4.50516 grams of fine silver.
It was the basis of the revolutionary
French franc
The franc (, ; sign: F or Fr), also commonly distinguished as the (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 a term for this amount of money. It w ...
of 1795, defined as 4.5 grams of fine silver exactly.
Circulating currency
In France, the was worth 240 deniers (the "Tours penny"). The latter were initially minted by the abbey of Saint Martin in the
Touraine region of France. Soon after
Philip II of France seized the counties of
Anjou Anjou may refer to:
Geography and titles France
*County of Anjou, a historical county in France and predecessor of the Duchy of Anjou
**Count of Anjou, title of nobility
*Duchy of Anjou, a historical duchy and later a province of France
**Duke ...
and
Touraine in 1203 and standardized the use of the there, the began to supersede the (Paris pound) which had been up to that point the official currency of the
Capetian dynasty
The Capetian dynasty (; french: Capétiens), also known as the House of France, is a dynasty of Frankish origin, and a branch of the Robertians. It is among the largest and oldest royal houses in Europe and the world, and consists of Hug ...
.
The was, in common with the original
livre of Charlemagne, divided into 20 ( after 1715), each of which was divided into 12
deniers.
Between 1360 and 1641, coins worth one were minted, known as (the name coming from the inscription , []). Other francs were minted under Charles V of France, Charles V, Henry III of France, Henry III and Henry IV of France, Henry IV. The use of the name "franc" became a synonym for in accounting.
The first French paper money, issued between 1701 and 1720, was denominated in (see "Standard Catalog of World Paper Money", Albert Pick). This was the last time the name was used officially, as later notes and coins were denominated simply in , the having finally been abolished in 1667.
Accounting currency
With many forms of domestic and international money (with different weights, purities and quality) circulating throughout Europe in the late Middle Ages and the early modern period, the use of an ''accounting currency'' became a financial necessity. In the world of international banking of the 13th century, it was the
florin
The Florentine florin was a gold coin struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time. It had 54 grains (3.499 grams, 0.113 troy ounce) of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a purc ...
and
ducat
The ducat () coin was used as a trade coin in Europe from the later Middle Ages from the 13th to 19th centuries. Its most familiar version, the gold ducat or sequin containing around of 98.6% fine gold, originated in Venice in 1284 and gained ...
that were often used. In France, the and the currency system based on it became a standard monetary unit of accounting and continued to be used even when the ceased to exist as an actual coin. For example, the
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase (french: Vente de la Louisiane, translation=Sale of Louisiana) was the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. In return for fifteen million dollars, or ap ...
treaty of 1803 specified the relative ratios of the
franc,
dollar and .
The official use of the accounting unit in all contracts in France was legislated in 1549, but it had been one of the standard units of accounting in France since the 13th century. In 1577 the accounting unit was officially abolished and accountants switched to the
écu, which was at that time the major French gold coin in actual circulation, but in 1602 the accounting unit was brought back. (A monetary unit of accounting based on the continued to be used for minor uses in and around Paris and was not officially abolished until 1667 by
Louis XIV
Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was List of French monarchs, King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the Li ...
).
Since coins in Europe in the Middle Ages and the Early modern period (the French
écu,
Louis,
teston d'argent,
denier, double,
franc; the Spanish
doubloon
The doubloon (from Spanish ''doblón'', or "double", i.e. ''double escudo'') was a two-''escudo'' gold coin worth approximately $4 (four Spanish dollars) or 32 '' reales'',
and weighing 6.766 grams (0.218 troy ounce) of 22-karat gold (or 0.917 fi ...
,
pistole
Pistole is the French name given to a Spanish gold coin in use from 1537; it was a doubloon or double escudo, the gold unit. The name was also given to the Louis d'Or of Louis XIII of France, and to other European gold coins of about the value ...
,
real; the Italian
florin
The Florentine florin was a gold coin struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time. It had 54 grains (3.499 grams, 0.113 troy ounce) of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a purc ...
,
ducat
The ducat () coin was used as a trade coin in Europe from the later Middle Ages from the 13th to 19th centuries. Its most familiar version, the gold ducat or sequin containing around of 98.6% fine gold, originated in Venice in 1284 and gained ...
or
sequin
A sequin () is a small, typically shiny, generally disk-shaped ornament.
Sequins are also referred to as paillettes, spangles, or ''diamanté'' (also spelled ''diamante''). Although the words sequins, paillettes, lentejuelas, and spangles can ...
; the German and Austrian
thaler
A thaler (; also taler, from german: Taler) is one of the large silver coins minted in the states and territories of the Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg monarchy during the Early Modern period. A ''thaler'' size silver coin has a diameter o ...
; the
Dutch gulden, etc.) did not have any indication of their value, their official value was determined by royal edicts. In cases of financial need, French kings could use the official value for
currency devaluation
In macroeconomics and modern monetary policy, a devaluation is an official lowering of the value of a country's currency within a fixed exchange-rate system, in which a monetary authority formally sets a lower exchange rate of the national cur ...
. This could be done in two ways: (1) the amount of precious metal in a newly minted French coin could be reduced while nevertheless maintaining the old value in or (2) the official value of a domestic or foreign coin in circulation could be increased. By reversing these techniques, currencies could be reinforced.
For example:
* the worth of an écu d'or, a French gold coin, was changed from 60 to 57 sols in 1573.
* to curb increasing use of the
Spanish real
The ''real'' (English: /ɹeɪˈɑl/ Spanish: /reˈal/) (meaning: "royal", plural: ''reales'') was a unit of currency in Spain for several centuries after the mid-14th century. It underwent several changes in value relative to other units throu ...
, its official worth was decreased to 4 sols 2 deniers in the 1570s.
Royal finance officers faced many difficulties. In addition to currency speculation, forgery and the
intentional shaving of precious metal from coins (which was harshly punished), they had the difficult problem of setting values for gold, silver, copper and
billon coins, responding to the often large influx of foreign coin and the appearance of inferior foreign coins of intentionally similar design. For more on these issues, see
Monetary policy
Monetary policy is the policy adopted by the monetary authority of a nation to control either the interest rate payable for federal funds, very short-term borrowing (borrowing by banks from each other to meet their short-term needs) or the money s ...
and
Gresham's Law.
Unicode symbol
A glyph for the was added to Unicode 5.2, in the
Currency Symbols block at code point U+20B6.
See also
*
French franc#History
*
Louis (coin)
The Louis d'or () is any number of France, French coins first introduced by Louis XIII in 1640. The name derives from the depiction of the portrait of King Louis on one side of the coin; the French royal coat of arms is on the reverse. The coin ...
*
Luxembourgish livre
*
Écu (coin)
*
Roman currency
Roman currency for most of Roman history consisted of gold, silver, bronze, orichalcum and copper coinage. From its introduction to the Republic, during the third century BC, well into Imperial times, Roman currency saw many changes in form, denom ...
{{Portal bar, France, Money, Numismatics
Coins of France
Economic history of the Ancien Régime