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franc

Translation
franc
/frangk/; Fr. /frddahonn/, n., pl. francs /frangks/; Fr. /frddahonn/.
1. an aluminum or nickel coin and monetary unit of France, equal to 100 centimes. Abbr.: F., f., Fr, fr.
2. any of the monetary units of various other nations and territories, as Belgium, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Martinique, Senegal, Switzerland, and Tahiti, equal to 100 centimes.
3. a former silver coin of France, first issued under Henry III.
4. a former monetary unit of Algeria, Guinea, and Morocco.
[1350-1400; ME frank < OF franc, so called because the coin was first inscribed with the name of the king as ML Rex Francorum King of the Franks]

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      originally a French coin but now the monetary unit of a number of countries, notably Switzerland, most French and former Belgian overseas territories, and some African states; at one time it was also the currency of France, Belgium, and Luxembourg. The name was first applied to a gold coin minted by King John II of France in 1360, which bore on one face the Latin legend Johannes Dei gratia Francorum rex (“John, by the grace of God, king of the Franks”). Because this coin also carried the figure of the king on horseback, it was known as the franc à cheval to distinguish it from another coin of the same value later issued by Charles V of France. This latter coin was called the franc à pied because it showed the monarch on foot standing under a canopy. During the 17th century the minting of gold francs ceased, but the name was freely applied by the French public to the new unit of exchange—the livre tournois, a gold coin subdivided into 20 sols. In 1795, to symbolize the political changes that followed the French Revolution, the republican government introduced a new franc currency. The first coin was a five-franc silver piece; gold coins worth 20 francs (napoleons) were coined in quantity later. The livre tournois, which was exchangeable into the new currency at a rate of 81 livres to 80 francs, continued to circulate in France until 1834.

      The franc was formally established as the monetary unit of France in 1799 and made divisible into 10 decimos and 100 centimes. The Swiss (Switzerland) franc was adopted by France's client state, the Helvetic Republic (made up of cantons of Switzerland), in 1799. The Belgian franc was adopted by Belgium in 1832, after independence. The Luxembourg franc was adopted in 1848 in place of the Dutch guilder. In 2002 the franc ceased to be legal tender in France, Belgium, and Luxembourg after the euro, the monetary unit of the European Union, became those countries' sole currency.

      Most of France's foreign colonies attained independence in the 1950s and early '60s, and many of the resulting Saharan and sub-Saharan African nations retained the name franc for their own basic monetary units. These countries, most of which formerly constituted French West Africa and French Equatorial Africa, became members of the Franc Zone; their currencies were linked to the French franc at a fixed rate of exchange and were freely convertible into that franc. In 1999, however, as France began to phase out the French franc, the currencies became linked to the euro.

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Universalium. 2010.

  
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  • Franc — (fr[a^][ng]k), n. [F., fr. franc a Franc. See {Frank}, a.] A silver coin of France, and since 1795 the unit of the French monetary system. It has been adopted by Belgium and Swizerland. In 1913 it was equivalent to about nineteen cents American,… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • franc — noun франк (денежная единица Франции, Бельгии и Швейцарии) …   Англо-русский словарь Мюллера

  • franc — 1> франк (денежная единица Франции, Бельгии и Швейцарии) …   Новый большой англо-русский словарь

  • Francé — ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Annie Francé Harrar (1886–1971), österreichische Schriftstellerin und Naturforscherin Raoul Heinrich Francé (1874–1943), österreich ungarischer Botaniker, Mikrobiologe und Naturphilosoph Siehe auch: France …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Franc — Franc, seit 1795 Einheit des neueren französischen, seit 1833 der belgischen u. seit 1849 auch des schweizerischen Münzfußes, nach dem Münzregulativ vom 28. März 1803 in Silber, gesetzlich 5117/18 F s = 1 seine Mark kölnisch, also 8 Sgr. 1,027 Pf …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Franc — Franc, franz. Münze, s. Frank …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Franc — Franc, Münze, s. Frank …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • Franc — Franc, eine französische Münze, trat an die Stelle der alten Livres, steht jedoch etwas höher im Werth und beträgt nach preußischem Gelde etwas über 6 Groschen. Es gibt halbe , Zwei und Fünffrankenstücke von Silber, letztere so wie auch 20 und 40 …   Damen Conversations Lexikon

  • Franc — Franc, frz. Silbermünze, seit 1795 die (zu kleine) Einheit der frz. Münze = 100 Centimes = 20 Sous = 8 Sgr. = 30 kr. C. M.; auch Belgien und die Schweiz prägen nach dem Frankenfuße, deßgleichen Sardinien, wo der F. Lira nuova heißt …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • FRANC — ANCHE. adj. Libre. Cet esclave en entrant en France est devenu franc et libre. Il a fait cette action de sa pure et franche volonté. Franc arbitre. Fam., Avoir ses coudées franches, les coudées franches, Avoir la liberté du mouvement des bras,… …   Dictionnaire de l'Academie Francaise, 7eme edition (1835)

  • Franc — The franc is the name of several currency units, most notably the French franc, the currency of France until it adopted the euro in 1999 (by law, 2002 de facto), and the Swiss franc, still a major world currency today due to the prominence of… …   Wikipedia

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