The+Value+of+French+Currency

The currencies that was used in France in the eighteenth century were the livre and the franc. Until 1795, counting both bills and coins the French used the livre and after the year 1795 the French started to use franc. The reason for the change in currencies was because the French Revolution started a new government that wanted to improve the economy and help the currency, but this was not easy.

The livre was used as coins and bills. The coins were made with gold, silver, and copper and the bills were made of paper. Cardinal Fleury, minister under Louis XV, created the system of stability to show how much gold, silver, and copper was worth. The gold coins were called Louis d’or and they were worth 24 livres. The silver coins were called ecu and they were worth 6 livres. The copper coins were worth 1 and 2 sols and 6 and 3 deniers. In 1776 the Caisse d’Escompte reintroduced the assignats which was the paper money. The assignats were used from 1789-1793.

The franc was introduced in France in 1795 and is still used in France. The franc was made by the French Revolutionary Convention replacing the livre. They decided to replace all of the gold, silver, and copper coins to a paper bill. One franc equaled to 4.5 of fine silver which was less than the livre. In the beginning the government made too much of the franc and inflation happened. The government could not pay debts and because they already used the gold and silver the new currency lost a lot of value. This led to more riots and helped end the First French Republic.

The French had two different types of currency in the eighteenth century. The livre and the franc was very different to each other. They used different types of materials. After franc was made France had a lot of problems because the economy was terrible.

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