Europe currency history | Currency History

History of spanish currency

admin — Wed, 03 Sep 2014 09:48:45 +0000

Spanish escudo

The first escudo(gold escudo) was a gold coin introduced in 1535/1537, with coins denominated in escudos issued until 1833. It was initially worth 16 reales. When different reales were introduced, the escudo became worth 16 reales de plata in 1642, then 16 reales de plata fuerte or 40 reales de vellón from 1737.

The second escudo(silver escudo) was the currency of Spain between 1864 and 1869. It was subdivided into 100 céntimos de escudo. The escudo replaced the real at a rate of 10 reales = 1 escudo. It was itself replaced by the peseta, at a rate of 2½ pesetas = 1 escudo, when Spain joined the Latin Monetary Union. The later silver escudo was worth one quarter of the earlier, gold escudo.The peseta replaced the escudo

Spanish Peseta

Peseta was the currency of Spain between 1869 and 2002

The peseta was introduced in 1869 after Spain joined the Latin Monetary Union in 1868. The Spanish Law of June 26, 1864 decreed that in preparation for joining the Latin Monetary Union, the peseta became a subdivision of the peso with 1 peso duro = 5 pesetas. The peseta replaced the escudo at a rate of 5pesetas = 1 peso duro = 2 escudos.

The political turbulence of the early twentieth century and during the years after the World War I, caused the monetary union to break up, although it was not until 1927 that it officially ended.

In 1959, Spain became part of the Bretton Woods System, pegging the peseta at a value of 60 pesetas = 1 U.S. dollar. In 1967, the peseta followed the devaluation of the British pound, maintaining the exchange rate of 168 pesetas = 1 pound and establishing a new rate of 70 pesetas = 1 U.S. dollar.

The peseta was replaced by the euro in 2002, following the establishment of the euro in 1999. The exchange rate was 1 euro = 166.386 pesetas.

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History of hungarian currency

admin — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 10:12:55 +0000

Austro-Hungarian gulden

The Gulden or forint was the currency of the lands of the House of Habsburg between 1754 and 1892 (known as the Austrian Empire from 1804 to 1867 and the Austro-Hungarian Empire after 1867). With the introduction of the Conventionsthaler in 1754, the Gulden was defined as half a Conventionsthaler, equivalent to 1/20 of a Cologne mark of silver and subdivided into 60 Kreuzer. The Gulden became the standard unit of account in the Habsburg Empire and remained so until 1892.

It was replaced by theKrone as part of the introduction of the gold standard.

Austro-Hungarian krone

It was the official currency of the Austro-Hungarian Empirefrom 1892 until the dissolution of the empire in 1918.

After several earlier attempts the Austro-Hungarian Empire adopted the gold standard in 1892 according to the plan of Sándor Wekerle minister of finance. This plan included the introduction of the new currency, the Krone. The value of the Krone was set at 2 Kronen = 1 Gulden (Florin, or forint in Hungarian) of the previous silver-based currency. From 1900 onwards, Krone notes were the only legal banknotes of the Empire.

The value of the currency depreciated sharply as a result of the First World War, which was financed mostly by the issue of War Bonds rather than through taxation. Consumer prices rose sixteenfold during the war, as the government had no hesitation in running the Austro-Hungarian Bank’s printing presses to pay its bills and triggering a higher inflation rate than in the other combatant countries.

Hungarian korona

It was the replacement currency of theAustro-Hungarian Krone amongst the boundaries of the newly created post-World War I Hungary. It suffered aserious inflation and was replaced by the pengő in 1925. The last korona banknotes were withdrawn from circulation in 1927.

Hungarian pengő

The pengő was the currency of Hungary between 1 January 1927, when it replaced the korona. The pengő was subdivided into 100fillér. Although the introduction of the pengő was part of a post-World War I stabilisation program, the currency survived for only 20 years and experienced the most serious hyperinflation ever recorded.

After the First World War, according to the Treaty of Saint-Germain, the Austro-Hungarian Bank (the joint bank of the Monarchy) had to be liquidated and the Austro-Hungarian krone had to be replaced with a different currency, which in the case of Hungary was the Hungarian korona. This currency suffered a high rate of inflation during the early 1920s. A stabilisation program covered by League of Nations loan helped to bring down inflation, and the korona could be replaced in 1 January 1927 by a new currency, the pengő, which was introduced by Act XXXV of 1925 It was valued at 12,500 korona, and defined as 3,800 to one kilogram of fine gold – which meant that the pengő was pegged to the gold standard, however, without exchange obligation. In the beginning the cover ratio (which included gold and – to 50% – foreign exchange) was fixed at 20% which had to be raised to 33.3% within five years. This goal was reached quickly: the cover ratio was 51% in 31 July 1930. Later it decreased somewhat due to the economic and financial crisis caused by the Great Depression.

On 31 July 1946, it was replaced by the forint

Hungarian forint

The forint is the currency of Hungary. The introduction of the forint on 1 August 1946 was a crucial step of the post-WWII stabilization of theHungarian economy, and the currency remained relatively stable until the 1980s. Transition to market economy in the early 1990s deteriorated the value of the forint, inflation peaked at 35% in 1991. Since 2001, inflation is single digit and the forint was declared fully convertible. As a member of the European Union, the long term aim of the Hungarian government is to replace the forint with the euro

The forint’s name comes from the city of Florence, where golden coins were minted from 1252 called fiorino d’oro. In Hungary, florentinus, also a gold-based currency, was used from 1325 under Charles Robert and several other countries followed its example.

Between 1868 and 1892 the forint was the name used in Hungarian for the currency of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, known in German as the gulden or florin.

The forint was reintroduced on 1 August 1946, after the pengő was rendered almost worthless by massive hyperinflation in 1945-46—the highest ever recorded. The process was managed by the Hungarian Communist Party, which held the relevant cabinet seats. The forint’s success was exploited for political gains, contributing to the Communists’ takeover of complete power in 1948-49. The forint replaced the pengő at the rate of 1 forint = 4×10²⁹ pengő—dropping 29 zeroes from the old currency. In fact, this was an imaginary exchange rate. With the highest value note being 100 million B. pengő (10²⁰ pengő), the total amount of pengő in circulation had a value of less than 0.1 fillér. Of more significance was the exchange rate to the adópengő of 1 forint = 200 million adópengő.

Historically the forint was subdivided into 100 fillér, although fillér coins have been rendered useless by inflation and have not been in circulation since 1999. The Hungarian abbreviation for forint is Ft, which is written after the number with a space between. The name fillér, the subdivision of all Hungarian currencies since 1925, comes from the German word Heller. The abbreviation for the fillér is f, written also after the number with a space in between.

After its 1946 introduction, the forint remained stable for several years, but started to lose its purchasing power as the state-socialist economic system lost its competitiveness during the 1970s and 1980s. After the democratic change of 1989-90, the forint saw yearly inflation figures of app. 35% for three years, but significant market economy reforms helped stabilize it. Since year 2000 the relatively high value of forint handicaps the strongly export-oriented Hungarian industry against foreign competitors with lower valued currencies.

As part of Hungary’s integration into the European Union and its euro currency, the forint may be replaced by the euro, depending on the economic situation.

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History of Danish Krone

admin — Sun, 24 Aug 2014 16:57:51 +0000

The currency system in Denmark came into existence in 1625 when rigsdaler was made the official currency of the country. It had 3 subunits to it namely mark, skilling and pfennig with a complex exchange among them i.e. 1 rigsdaler = 6 mark, 1 mark = 16 skilling, 1 skilling = 12 pfennig. This complex rate regime continued over a long period of time with some small corrections in the mean while. In 1873, Scandinavian Monetary Union was established constituting of two countries i.e. Sweden and Denmark.

The purpose of this union was to revalue the currencies of the member countries to put them at par with each other and fixing them against gold. It was due to this monetary union that krone was introduced in Denmark and became the legal tender in the country. The currency got onto the gold standard with a fixed exchange rate of 2480 kroner = 1 kilogram of fine quality gold. During the First World War, the gold rate of all the currencies was abandoned and krone too, was affected by it. The Scandinavian Monetary Union was dissolved and krone was brought down but it was decided that the name of their now separate currencies wont be changed.

Denmark once again fixed its currency to the gold standard in 1924 but it had quit it permanently in 1931. Krone was pegged to the German reichsmark during the German occupation from the year 1940 to 1945 but after the Second World War was over it was pegged to the British pound and US dollar. When in 1999, the European common currency, euro was launched, most of the European countries opted in favor of the currency but Denmark moved out of the Maastricht treaty so that it could protect its own currency.

Denmark is using the krone as its currency and doesn’t use the euro, having negotiated the right to opt-out from participation under the Maastricht Treaty of 1992. The government held a referendum, in 2000, on introducing the euro. The results in percents look like this 46.8% voting yes and 53.2% voting no.

Denmark borders one eurozone member – Germany, and one european union member – Sweden, which is legally obliged to join the euro in the future.

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History of the Euro Currency

admin — Sun, 24 Aug 2014 16:55:31 +0000

History of Euro –

The euro was introduced on 1 January 1999 in accordance with the Maastricht Treaty.

In 1999, several European nations adopted a single currency called the euro to strengthen and stabilize the continent’s economy. While some goals of the euro have been realized, some remain out of reach.

First, participating countries fixed their domestic currencies to the euro. This means that their currencies were not allowed to fluctuate against the euro or against each other. In its history, euro was launched as an electronic and cash currency and became legal tender on 1 January 2002.

On July 1, 2002, the German Mark, French Franc, Italian Lira and other currencies ceased to exist, and on the same day, also the European Central Bank begun running the monetary policy of the countries which were using the common currency.

When looking at the history of euro, we can see that attempts to create a single currency go back some 20 years. The chart below shows the value of the euro against the US dollar. Before 1999, history of euro is shown as a basket of the 11 legacy currencies.

Per history of euro, originally twelve (12) of the 15 EU countries (Germany, France, Austria, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Finland, Greece and Ireland) were members of the so-called Eurozone. Euro history tells us that these states were joined later by Slovenia (2007), Cyprus (2008), Malta (2008), and Slovakia (2009).

The history of euro is that on 1 January 2002 the euro replaces the old national currencies. We can see in the history of euro chart above that European currencies have always fluctuated against the dollar, even as debates have raged about the euro. The euro became the single currency of 12 European states in 2002.

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History of russian ruble

admin — Sun, 24 Aug 2014 12:01:28 +0000

The ruble has been the currency in Russia for 500 years. The name ‘rouble’ is thought to come from the Russian for ‘chop,’ literally referring to the way a section was cut off a silver ingot, which was the very first incarnation of the currency, with each section holding a different value depending on its weight.
There is no official symbol for the rouble although many options have been suggested over the years, including a ‘P’ with two horizontal stripes. However, the abbreviation ‘???’ is often used in writing.
In 1710 the rouble was first divided into kopecs, 100 of which made up a rouble. Ten roubles are sometimes referred to as ‘chervonets’, in reference to the Soviet gold chervonets issued in 1923 that were the equivalent value.
There have been seven different incarnations of the rouble, due to various drastic changes in the currency’s value, with the most recent being released in 1998.
The FIRST rouble was in place for over 200 years up to 1921 when it fell dramatically in value.
The SECOND rouble was the first in the series of redenominations, swapping one ‘new’ rouble for 10,000 ‘old’ roubles. These were introduced in 1922.
A quick redenomination took place the year after, valuing the new rouble at 1 to 100 of the former roubles. This was the THIRD rouble.
In 1924, the FOURTH rouble, known as the ‘gold rouble’, was introduced and lasted until 1947. This one was valued at 50,000 of the previous issue of the rouble.
After the Second World War the government attempted to reduce the amount of money in circulation by imposing a confiscatory redenomination on paper money, which valued the new rouble at one tenth the value of the fourth rouble.
From 1961 to 1997, the SIXTH rouble was in circulation and the redenomination was based on the same terms as the 1947 redenomination. After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the rouble remained the currency of the Russian Federation. During the early 1990s there was a period of hyper-inflation which meant the currency fell significantly in value.
In January 1998 the seventh rouble was introduced. It was valued at 1,000 of the previous roubles in what was simply a psychological step. Later in the same year, the rouble lost 70% of its value against the US dollar in just six months following the Russian financial crisis of 1998.
In the 18th century, the lower value roubles, such as half a kopek or a single kopec were made from copper, while five kopecs up to 50 kopecs and one rouble coins were made from silver. Five rouble coins were originally made from gold.
After the Russian civil war, silver was used for lower value coins with gold chervonets minted in 1923. In 1961 new materials such as aluminium bronze were introduced, along with cupro-nickel-zinc.
In 1991 more modern techniques were used, combining several types of metal to form new, bimetallic coins in denominations including ten roubles. New coins were again released after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Between 1769 and 1917 there were only Imperial issued bank notes, or ‘assignats.’ After 1917 the provisional government issued bank notes, called Kerenki. Soon after, in 1918 state credit notes were issued by the RSFSR, followed by currency notes the following year.

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History of Portuguese escudo

admin — Sun, 24 Aug 2014 11:58:58 +0000

The escudo was the currency of Portugal prior to the introduction of the Euro on 1 January 1999 and its removal from circulation on 28 February 2002. The escudo was subdivided into 100 centavos.

Amounts in escudos were written as escudos$centavos with the cifrão as the decimal separator (e.g. 25$00 means 25 escudos, 100$50 means 100 escudos and 50 centavos). Because of the conversion rate of 1000 réis = 1 escudo, three decimal places were initially used (1 escudo = 1$000).
The escudo was introduced on 22 May 1911, after the 1910 Republican revolution, to replace the real at the rate of 1,000 réis to 1 escudo. The term mil réis (thousand réis) remained a colloquial synonym of escudo up to the 1990s. One million réis was called one conto de réis, or simply one conto. This expression passed on to the escudo, meaning 1,000 escudos.

The escudo’s value was initially set at 4$50 escudos = 1 pound sterling. After 1914, the value of the escudo fell, being fixed in 1928 at 108$25 to the pound. This was altered to 110$00 escudos to the pound in 1931. A new rate of 27$50 escudos to the U.S. dollar was established in 1940, changing to 25$00 in 1940 and 28$75 in 1949.

Inflation throughout the 20th century made centavos essentially worthless by its end, with fractional value coins with values such as $50 or 2$50 eventually withdrawn from circulation in the 1990s. With the entry of Portugal in the Eurozone, the conversion rate to the euro was set at 200$482 escudos to €1.

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History of Greek drachma

admin — Sun, 24 Aug 2014 11:49:38 +0000

Drachma was established on the island of Aegina during the 7 century BC. Depreciation was remarkably slow – about 50% over the following 200 years. Aristophanes (c. 448-380 BC) tells us that in his days one drachma was the average daily wage of a skilled labourer or a hoplite, while a juror earned half a drachma. Eight drachmas would buy a pair of shoes, 20 drachmas a quality tunic and 160 drachmas a slave (child slaves were a bargain at 72 drachmas). A family of four with slave spent 1,000 drachmas a year on living expenses. On the other hand, Xenophon claimed that half a drachma was the minimum required to provide a comfortable subsistence. More recently, some historians and economists estimated that in the 5th century BC a drachma had a rough value of 40 U.S. dollars (2006).
Shortly after the creation of the modern Greek state in 1827, after 400 years of Ottoman rule, a new currency was struck. The coins depicted a phoenix rising from the ashes to mark the kingdom’s new-found freedom, under President John Capodistras (1827-31). They were minted on the island of Aegina, which served as the temporary capital of the newly-founded state, where – by coincidence – the first coinage system was introduced more than 2500 years ago!

The phoenix lasted only five years, and was replaced by the traditional drachma, showing the head of the first king of the independent state, Otto. The first coinage consisted of copper denominations of 1, 2, 5 and 10 lepta, silver denominations of 1/4, 1/2, 1 and 5 drachmae and a gold 20 drachmae. The drachma coin weighed 4.5 g and contained 90% silver, with the 20 drachmae coin containing 5.8 g of gold. The drachma of King George I (1863) was made as identical as possible in size and composition to its Attic forebear. The conceit backfired badly, as throughout the 19th century the modern drachma could gain nowhere near the solidity or prestige of the ancient. In 1868, Greece joined the Latin Monetary Union and the drachma became equal in weight and value to the French franc. The new coinage issued consisted of copper 1, 2, 5 and 10 lepta coins (with the 5 lepta coin bearing the name obolos and the 10 lepta, diobolon (two obols), silver coins of 20 and 50 lepta, 1, 2 and 5 drachmae and gold coins of 5, 10 and 20 drachmae. Very small numbers of gold 50 and 100 drachmae coins were also issued.
Overspending and overborrowing precipitated a national bankruptcy in 1893. An English financial specialist, Edward Law, helped to save the drachma from huge depreciation and his labours kept the currency intact for 50 years. In 1894, cupro-nickel 5, 10 and 20 lepta coins were introduced, the 1 and 2 lepta having not been issued since the late 1870s. Silver coins were last issued in 1911 and no coins were issued between 1912 and 1922, during which time the Latin Monetary Union collapsed due to the First World War. By the time the republic was declared in 1924, the number of coins in circulation had dwindled and there was a serious shortage of cash.
It was not until the late 1940s, after almost a decade of war and civil war, that the drachma again inflated with a vengeance. Inflation during World War II was dramatic in the extreme. In January 1941, 1 british pound was worth 1,200 drachma. By October 1944 that had spiralled to 1,219 billion drachmas. As in other countries, it required basketfuls of flimsy notes with a lot of zeros on them to buy basic provisions. A currency reform introduced a new drachma which was worth 50 billion of the old variety but nevertheless inflation continued.

In an effort to halt the inflation, Greece joined the Bretton Woods system in 1953. In 1954 the drachma was revalued for a second time at a rate of 1000 to 1 and the Finance Minister, Spyros Markezinis, dealt with the problem Alexander-fashion by chopping off three zeros. The new currency was pegged at 30 drachmae = 1 US dollar. Artists and writers who settled on the Greek islands in the inflation-free 1960s and early 1970s marvelled at how far the humble drachma – like the olive a symbol of national frugality – could stretch. In 1973, the Bretton Woods System was abolished and over the next 25 years the official exchange rate gradually declined due to growing urbanisation and EU-fuelled prosperity. Renewed inflation resulted in the exchange rate reaching 400 GRD = 1 USD and the situation was brought under control only in 1997, thanks to determined supply-side policies by the Government.

The euro did not begin circulating until 2002 but the exchange rate was fixed on 19 June 2000, with legal introduction of the euro taking place in January 2002.

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History of Polish zloty

admin — Sun, 24 Aug 2014 11:42:52 +0000

First Polish coins were struck in second half of X century. Earlier foreign money was used and barter transactions were made; along with Polish coins these two were still used concurrently till XIII century.
The first Polish duke – Mieszko I – begun to issue a silver coin. System was based on 1 pound = 367 grams of silver, of that 240 denars (called thick) were produced. During the political turmoil of XI century these coins lost the value and had to be replaced in the latter half of the century.
The new system was based on 1 grzywna (weight unit) = approx. ? Carolingian (French) pound. The system was 1 grzywna = 4 wiardunki = 24 skojce = 240 denars = 480 halfdenars (obol), but only denars (called thin) were struck. Value of denars was declining due to decreasing content of silver used. The thickness of coins was descending gradually also – in the end of XIII century they were so thin, that the only one side die was used – these were called bracteats (brakteat). Coins were neglected and seen as a way of making high profits for the issuer, therefore they were debased again.
Kazimierz the Great did the next recoinage in XIV century. The new, grosz (grosh) system was based on a European one. 1 Cracovian grzywna = 197 grams of silver = 4 wiarunki = 24 skojce = 48 groszy (grosh) = 96 polgroszy (half grosh) = 96 denars. The gold coinage of Hungary was used in valuable transactions. This system has also been debased. Foreign coins o less value were brought to Poland. Different systems were used in the parts of country – Prussia and Lithuania had completely different coinage. All these factors caused a lot of havoc to the trade.
Thorough reform has been made in 1526 – 1528, the new zloty system was implemented. 1 zloty = 5 szostakow (~six…) = 10 trojakow (~three…) = 30 grosh. 1 grosh = 2 half grosh = 3 szelag = 6 ternars = 18 denars. 1 grosh = 0.77 grams of silver. The system was implemented in Prussia in 1538 and in Lithuania in 1569. Gold ducats of 3.5 grams of gold were struck then. In 1564 silver talars were introduced, the coin was meant to be equal to golden ducat. 1 talar = 5 orts. The system was stable until the beginning of XVII century. When during the reign of Zygmunt III the coins were debased again, also worthless German coins were brought in and took place of melted Polish coins. The crisis occurred strongly after the war with Sweden in the half of XVII century – the coinage was debased even more. In 1659 Boratyni was granted a licence to strike copper szelags, he exceeded the amount agreed in the licence. In 1663 Tymf begun to issue low value zlotys, that consisted half of the silver then in the regal coinage. Those coins were then given an obligatory value over intrinsic one – this situation continued till the end of reign of Saxon elector kings in Poland (1763). During the seven-year war (1756 – 1763) Prussians got the genuine dies and struck fakes of very low intrinsic value.
Another thorough reform had to be made. In 1766 the new coinage was introduced; based on 1 Kolognian grzywna = 233.8 grams of silver = 10 talars = 80 zlotys (after 1786 83.5 zlotys). 1 gold ducat = 16.75 zlotys (after 1786 18 zlotys).
There was an attempt to issue first banknotes during the reign of Stanislaw August (1764 – 1795), it was realised during the uprising of Kosciuszko in 1795 – these were in circulation only for the short period of insurrection.
The previous coinage was continually struck in Warsaw Duchy since 1810.
In 1815 the system has been slightly changed: 1 Kolognian grzywna became 84 zlotys.
In 1834 the Kolognian grzywna has been replaced with Russian pound of 409.5 grams of silver. And double denominations were introduced: 10 zlotys = 1.5 rubles, 1 zloty = 30 grosh = 15 kopeek.
Russian rubles were implemented into circulation in 1842. This system lasted till the end of I World War. In the remaining two other parts of Poland under Prussian and Austrian domination the dominants’ coinages were used respectively.
All three countries introduced gold coin in the latter half of XIX century.
The monetary chaos of I World War lasted till 1922. Although since 1918 the Polish mark was a legal tender still Austrian, German and Russian money was used.
The hyperinflation of after war years was overcame in the 1924 with introduction of new zloty system (denomination structure lasts from then on): 1 zloty = 100 grosh = 0.1687 grams of gold. Before the war Polish zloty has been well stabilised. But the war had ruined the system again.
Germans had issued their own money (although it was based still on the proportion of 1 zloty = 100 grosh) for the General Government (eastern part of area of Poland occupied by German troops).
Polish banknotes were issued in 1945 and coins in 1949 (then under the name of republic of Poland, without Peoples).
Monetary system of socialistic Poland has, on several occasions, suffered from inflation and the governmental steps to fight it. In 1950 there was an unfair cut in peoples’ savings volume – to decrease the amount of money in circulation.
In 1995 there was the last change – the 10,000 old zlotys = 1 new zloty. New banknotes and coins had been issued earlier (since 1990 – coins and 1992 baknotes) but put into circulation on the Jaunary 1st 1995. The new reform brought coins back to life – as since early 1990’s they were non existent in the transactions due to very small value (with some exceptions of 10,000 zlotys and 20,000 zlotys coins that were commemorative but quite common).

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History of Italian lira

admin — Sun, 24 Aug 2014 10:54:16 +0000

The lira (plural lire) was the currency of the Italy between 1861 and 2002. Between 1999 and 2002, the Italian lira was officially a “national subunit” of the euro. However, physical payments could only be made in lire, as no euro coins and notes were available.
The lira was also the currency of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy between 1807 and 1814.
The term originates from the value of a pound weight of high purity silver and as such is a direct cognate of the British pound sterling; in some countries, such as Cyprus and Malta, the words lira and pound were used as equivalents, before the eurowas adopted in 2008 in the two countries. “L”, sometimes in a double-crossed script form (“?”), was usually used as the symbol. Until the Second World War, it was subdivided into 100 centesimi (singular: centesimo), which translates to “one hundredth”.
The Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy issued coins between 1807 and 1813 in denominations of 1 and 3 centesimi and 1 soldo in copper, 10 centesimi in 20% silver alloy, 5, 10 and 15 soldi, 1, 2 and 5 lire in 90% silver and 20 and 40 lire in 90% gold. All except the 10 centesimi bore a portrait of Napoleon, with the denominations below 1 lira also showing a radiate crown and the higher denominations, a shield representing the various constituent territories of the Kingdom.
In 1861, coins were minted in Florence, Milan, Naples and Turin in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10 and 50 centesimi, 1, 2, 5, 10 and 20 lire, with the lowest four in copper, the highest two in gold and the remainder in silver. In 1863, silver coins below 5 lire were debased from 90% to 83.5% and silver 20 centesimi coins were introduced. Minting switched to Rome in the 1870s.
Apart from the introduction in 1894 of cupro-nickel (later nickel) 20 centesimi coins and of nickel 25 centesimi pieces in 1902, the coinage remained essentially unaltered until the First World War.

In 1919, with a purchase power of the lira reduced to 1/5 of that of 1914, the production of all earlier coin types except for the nickel 20 centesimi halted, and smaller, copper 5 and 10 centesimi and nickel 50 centesimi coins were introduced, followed by nickel 1 and 2 lire pieces in 1922 and 1923, respectively. In 1926, silver 5 and 10 lire coins were introduced, equal in size and composition to the earlier 1 and 2 lire coins. Silver 20 lire coins were added in 1927.
In 1936, the last substantial issue of silver coins was made, whilst, in 1939, moves to reduce the cost of the coinage lead to copper being replaced by aluminium bronze and nickel by stainless steel. All issuance of coinage came to a halt in 1943.
In 1951, the government again issued notes, this time simply bearing the title “Repubblica Italiana”. Denominations were of 50 and 100 lire (replacing the Bank of Italy notes) and they circulated until coins of these denominations were introduced in the mid 1950s. In 1966, 500 lire notes were introduced (again replacing Bank of Italy notes) which were produced until replaced in 1982 by a coin.
In 1967, 50,000 and 100,000 lire notes were introduced by the Bank of Italy, followed by 20,000 lire in 1975 and 500,000 lire in 1997.

Euro

The minting of Italian lira coins was suspended in 1999 and the euro was officially introduced in Italy on 1 January 2002. Italian euro coins have a layout different to each denomination, although there are a lot of themes of works by one of the most famed and known Italian artists. Every coin is created by a different designer, from the one cent to the two euro coin they are – Eugenio Driutti, Luciana De Simoni, Ettore Lorenzo Frapiccini, Claudia Momoni, Maria Angela Cassol, Roberto Mauri, Laura Cretara and Maria Carmela Colaneri. All of them feature the 12 stars of the EU, the year of imprint, the overlapping letters “RI” for Repubblica Italiana or Italian Republic and the letter R for Rome. There are no Italian euro coins dated earlier than 2002, even though they were certainly minted earlier, as they were first introduced in circulation to the public in December 2001.

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History of Belgian franc

admin — Sun, 24 Aug 2014 10:44:58 +0000

The franc was the currency of Belgium until 2002 when the euro was introduced into circulation. It was subdivided into 100 centiem (Dutch), centimes (French) or Centime (German).
The conquest of most of western Europe by revolutionary and Napoleonic France led to the French franc’s wide circulation. In the Austrian Netherlands (now Belgium), the franc replaced the kronenthaler. This was in turn replaced by the Dutch gulden when the Kingdom of the Netherlands was formed.
Following independence from the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the new Kingdom of Belgium in 1832 adopted its own franc, equivalent to the French franc, followed by Luxembourg in 1848 and Switzerland in 1850. Newly-unified Italy adopted the lira on a similar basis in 1862.

In 1865 France, Belgium, Switzerland and Italy created the Latin Monetary Union (to be joined by Greece in 1868): each would possess a national currency unit (franc, lira, drachma) worth 4.5 g of silver or 290.322 mg of fine gold, all freely exchangeable at a rate of 1:1. In the 1870s the gold value was made the fixed standard, a situation which was to continue until 1914.
In 1926, Belgium, as well as France, experienced depreciation and an abrupt collapse of confidence, leading to the introduction of a new gold currency for international transactions, the belga worth 5 francs, and the country’s withdrawal from the monetary union, which ceased to exist at the end of the year. The belga was tied to the British pound at a rate of 35 belgas (175 francs) = 1 pound and was thus put on a gold standard of 1 belga = 209.211 mg fine gold. The 1921 monetary union of Belgium and Luxembourg survived, however, forming the basis for full economic union in 1932. In 1935, the Belgian franc was devalued by 28% to 150.632 mg fine gold and the link between the Luxembourg and

Belgian francs was revised to 1 Luxembourgish franc = 1

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