The franc was the currency of
Algeria
Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...
between 1848 and 1964. It was subdivided into 100
centimes.
History
The franc replaced the
budju when
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
occupied the country. It was equivalent to the
French franc
The franc (; , ; currency sign, 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 amoun ...
and was revalued in 1960 at a rate of 100 old francs = 1 new franc to maintain the equivalence. Thus, 1 old franc = 1 new centime, and prices popularly quoted in centimes are equivalent to old francs. The new franc was replaced at par by the
dinar
The dinar () is the name of the principal currency unit in several countries near the Mediterranean Sea, with a more widespread historical use. The English word "dinar" is the transliteration of the Arabic دينار (''dīnār''), which was bor ...
in 1964 following Algerian independence in 1962.
Coins
Except for 20, 50 and 100 franc coins issued between 1949 and 1956, Algeria used the same coins as
metropolitan France
Metropolitan France ( or ), also known as European France (), is the area of France which is geographically in Europe and chiefly comprises #Hexagon, the mainland, popularly known as "the Hexagon" ( or ), and Corsica. This collective name for the ...
.
Banknotes
The
Banque de l'Algérie introduced its first notes in 1861. Denominations of 5, 10, 50, 100, 500 and 1,000 francs were introduced by 1873 although the 10-franc note was issued only in 1871. In 1944, notes were issued in the name of the ''Région économique d'Algérie'' in denominations of 50 centimes and 1 and 2 francs. The Bank of Algeria introduced notes worth 10,000 francs and 5,000 francs in 1945 and 1946, respectively.
In 1949, the
Banque de l'Algérie et de la Tunisie commenced banknote issue, with denominations of 500, 1,000, 5,000 and 10,000 francs. The notes were overprinted with denominations of 5, 10, 50 and 100 new francs in 1960. The Bank of Algeria resumed note production with the introduction of the new franc and produced a final series of notes for 5, 10, 50 and 100 new francs until 1961.
References
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External links
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Modern obsolete currencies
Currencies of Algeria
Economic history of French Algeria
1848 establishments in Algeria
1964 disestablishments in Algeria
{{France-hist-stub