French franc — 1795 to euro conversion
French franc: a historical unit of account.
- Dates in use
- Introduction and ending not established
- Ancestry branch
- French franc
Where this money came from
6 ancestors · 16 descendants. Follow a name to its history. Select a dated connection for its evidence.
Show 4 more successors
The story
The surviving evidence establishes this unit of account, but a fuller narrative is still being developed. Its known connections are shown above; the research page documents what is established and what remains uncertain.
Turning points
Authorization
Delage quotes the 15 August 1795 law defining a five-gram franc at nine-tenths silver. [1]
Name revival
The revolutionary monetary unit reuses the historic franc name. Not one continuously circulating national currency since 1360. [2]
Unit replacement
The law of 18 germinal III names the franc in place of the livre. Naming law; separate from silver specification and later conversion tariff. [3]
Euro monetary substitution
1 EUR = 6.55957 FRF. France: euro adoption 1999-01-01; cash 2002-01-01. Regulation 974/98 substitutes the euro for each participating state’s currency on its adoption date; cash changeover is separately defined. [4] [5] [6]
Euro cash changeover
France: euro adoption 1999-01-01; cash 2002-01-01. [5]
Legal tender end
France’s dual-circulation period ends. Legal-tender end is distinct from later redemption deadlines. [7]
Sources and evidence
- Irène Delage; Fondation Napoléon · A history of the Franc: the key moments C220 ↗
- Monnaie de Paris · Franc à cheval de Jean II le Bon; MON B 001506; Law of 18 germinal an III · Law of 18 germinal an III — weights and measures C732 ↗
- Law of 18 germinal an III · Law of 18 germinal an III — weights and measures C733 ↗
- Council of the European Union · Council Regulation (EC) 2866/98 — consolidation at 1 January 2026 C672 ↗
- Council of the European Union · Council Regulation (EC) 974/98 — consolidation at 1 January 2026 C673 ↗
- Council of the European Union · Council Regulation (EC) 974/98 — consolidation at 1 January 2026 C646 ↗
- European Commission · European Commission — France and the euro C740 ↗
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Cite this page
“French franc — 1795 to euro conversion.” The Family Tree of Money. © Field Technologies, Inc. Reader edition 2026-10-13; research dataset v44. https://familytreeofmoney.org/currency/FTM000175.html