History of the franc

The monetary family of the franc

The franc belongs to the great Western European monetary tradition that developed starting from the Carolingian system. The long duration of the medieval denier and its evolutions prepares the context in which the franc will establish itself as an autonomous monetary family.

In the modern and contemporary age, the franc becomes the reference currency of several European countries, including France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Monaco and Switzerland. In part of this area it will then be replaced by the euro, while in Switzerland the franc remains the national currency.

The Les Francs catalog collects both historical franc coins and euro issues from countries that have shared the tradition. The home page franc refers to the national catalogues; this page instead frames the monetary family, its historical origins and its European diffusion.

The origins of the franc can be traced back to the long evolution of the units of account and coins born from the Carolingian system. The pound-soldo-denier sequence, which lasted for centuries, constitutes the economic and symbolic ground from which an autonomous coinage capable of becoming a model for other European countries will emerge in France.

The modern franc is therefore not just a French national coin, but a true monetary family that includes historical and national variants: French franc, Belgian franc, Luxembourg franc, Monegasque franc and Swiss franc. This plurality makes Les Francs a point of connection between monetary history, national catalogs and the transition to the euro age.