Luxembourgish franc

Luxembourgish franc
franc luxembourgeois (French) Luxemburger Franken (German) Lëtzebuerger Frang (Luxembourgish)
1 Luxembourg franc 1981
ISO 4217
Code	LUF
Denominations
Subunit
1⁄100	centime (French) cent (German)
Plural	francs (French) Franken (German) Frang (Luxembourgish)
centime (French) cent (German)	centimes (French) cent (German)
Symbol	fr. or F
centime (French) cent (German)	c.
Banknotes	100, 1000, 5000, fr.2 [1]
Coins	25 centimes, 1, 5, 20 & 50 francs 1 [2]
Demographics
User(s)	None, previously:  Belgium,  Luxembourg
Issuance
Central bank	Central Bank of Luxembourg3
Website	www.bcl.lu
Printer	National Bank of Belgium4
Website	www.nbb.be
Mint	National Bank of Belgium4
Website	www.nbb.be
Valuation
Pegged with	Belgian franc at par
ERM
Since	13 March 1979
Fixed rate since	31 December 1998
Replaced by €, non cash	1 January 1999
Replaced by €, cash	1 January 2002
€ =	40.3399 francs
This infobox shows the latest status before this currency was rendered obsolete. 1Belgian franc coins were also used 2Belgian franc notes (including 10,000 fr.) were also used 3 Institut Monétaire Luxembourgeois before 1998 4The National Bank of Belgium minted LUF coins and printed LUF notes for the Luxembourg central bank.

The Luxembourgish franc (more commonly Luxembourg Franc or LUF, French: franc luxembourgeois, Luxembourgish: Lëtzebuerger Frang, German: Luxemburger Franken) was the currency of Luxembourg between 1854 and 1999 (except during the period 1941-44). The franc remained in circulation until 2002, when it was replaced by the euro. During the period 1999–2002, the franc was officially a subdivision of the euro (1 euro = 40.3399 francs) but the euro did not circulate. Under the principle of "no obligation and no prohibition", financial transactions could be conducted in euros and francs, but physical payments could only be made in francs, as euro notes and coins were not available yet.

The franc was subdivided into 100 centimes.

History

The conquest of most of western Europe by Revolutionary and Napoleonic France led to the French franc's wide circulation, including in Luxembourg. However, incorporation into the Netherlands in 1815 resulted in the Dutch guilder becoming Luxembourg's currency. Following Belgium's independence from the Netherlands, the Belgian franc was adopted in 1839 and circulated in Luxembourg until 1842 and again from 1848. Between 1842 and 1848, Luxembourg (as part of the German Zollverein) used the Prussian Thaler.

In 1854, Luxembourg began issuing its own franc, at par with the Belgian franc. The Luxembourg franc followed the Belgian franc into the Latin Monetary Union in 1865. In 1926, Belgium withdrew from the Latin Monetary Union. However, the 1921 monetary union of Belgium and Luxembourg survived, forming the basis for the full Belgium-Luxembourg Economic Union in 1932. In 1935, the link between the Luxembourg and Belgian francs was revised, with 1 Luxembourg franc =  1 ¹⁄₄ Belgian francs.

In May 1940, the franc was pegged to the German Reichsmark at a rate of 4 francs = 1 Reichsmark. This was changed to 10 francs = 1 Reichsmark in July 1940. On 26 August 1940, the Reichsmark was declared legal tender in Luxembourg and on 20 January 1941, the Reichsmark was declared the only legal tender and the franc was abolished.^[3] The Luxembourg franc was reestablished in 1944, once more tied to the Belgian franc at par.

The Luxembourg franc was fixed at 1 euro = 40.3399 francs on 1 January 1999. Euro coins and banknotes were introduced on 1 January 2002. Old franc coins and notes lost their legal tender status on 28 February 2002.

Use of Belgian franc

Between 1944 and 2002, 1 Luxembourg franc was equal to 1 Belgian franc. Belgian francs were legal tender inside Luxembourg and Luxembourg francs were legal tender in Belgium. Nevertheless, payments in Luxembourg banknotes were commonly refused by shopkeepers in Belgium, either through ignorance or from fear that their other customers would refuse the banknotes (again, either through ignorance or from fear of being denied payment with it later), forcing them to go through the hassle of a trip to their bank to redeem the value of the banknote.

With a few early exceptions, the coins were identical in size, shape, and composition. Although they had distinct designs, the coins circulated in both Luxembourg and Belgium.

Coins

The first coins were issued in 1854, in denominations of  2 ¹⁄₂, 5 and 10 centimes. In 1901, the bronze 5 and 10 centimes pieces were replaced by cupro-nickel coins. In 1915-1916, zinc 5, 10 and 25 centimes coins were issued by the occupying German forces. After the First World War, iron coins were issued in the same denominations before cupronickel was reintroduced in 1924, along with nickel 1 and 2 francs coins. The franc coins bore the inscription "Bon Pour", implying that they were tokens "good for" 1 or 2 francs. Such inscriptions also appeared on contemporary French and Belgian coins.

A Luxembourgish 50 franc coin of 1987

In 1929, Luxembourg's first silver coins since the late 18th century were issued, 5 and 10 francs. Bronze 5, 10 (smaller than earlier issues) and 25 centimes and nickel 50 centimes were introduced in 1930. The last coins before World War II were cupronickel 25 centimes and 1 franc pieces issued in 1938 and 1939.

The post-war Luxembourgish 25 centimes coin, minted 1947.

The first coins issued after the war were bronze 25 centimes and cupro-nickel 1 franc coins introduced in 1946. These were followed by cupronickel 5 francs in 1949. In 1952, the size of the 1 franc (€0.02) coin was reduced to match that of the Belgian 1 franc coin introduced in 1950. From this time on, all new Luxembourg coins matched the sizes and compositions of their Belgian counterparts, although the 25 centimes (€0.01) was not changed to match the Belgian coin introduced in 1964. In 1971, nickel 10 francs (€0.25) were introduced, followed by bronze 20 francs (€0.50) in 1980 and nickel 50 francs (€1.24) in 1987. The size and composition of the 1 and 5 francs were again altered in 1988 and 1986 respectively to match their Belgian counterparts.

A combination of being a small population and with Belgian coins so abundantly circulating in Luxembourg meant it was seldom necessary for Luxembourg to issue coinage on a year by year basis, especially in later years during design changes when large amounts of coins were minted in Brussels to supply the small country for many years at a time. As a result, some dates appear in mint sets only while many other dates saw no standard issue coins minted at all. Many earlier dates changed frequently with larger denominations often being single year designs.

Banknotes

A specimen 1000 franc banknote

20 Luxembourgish franc banknote

Before the First World War, notes were issued by the International Bank in Luxembourg and the National Bank, denominated in Thaler, Mark and, occasionally, francs, with an exchange rate of 1 franc = 80 Pfennig (the relative gold standards would have implied a rate of 1 franc = 81 Pfennig) used on bi-currency notes.

In 1914, State Treasury notes were issued. The first series was denominated in francs and Mark but these were the last Luxembourg notes to feature the German currency. Denominations were of 1, 2, 5, 25 and 125 francs (80 Pfennig, 1.6, 4, 20 and 100 Mark). In 1919, a second series of State Treasury notes was issued, with new denominations of 50 centimes and 500 francs. In 1923, the International Bank in Luxembourg issued the first of several types of 100 francs notes which continued until the 1980s. In 1932, the state introduced 50 francs notes, followed by 1000 francs in 1940.

In 1944, following liberation, the franc was reintroduced with a new series of notes in denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 francs. The 5 francs notes were replaced by coins in 1949, followed by the 10 francs in 1971, the 20 francs in 1980 and the 50 francs in 1987.

In 1985, the Monetary Institute of Luxembourg took over paper money issuance from the government and issued the first post-war 1000 francs notes {€24.79}. These were followed by 100 francs notes {€2.48} in 1986 and 5000 francs {€123.95} in 1993.

See also

• Economy of Luxembourg
• Luxembourgish euro coins

References

1. ↑ http://www.bcl.lu/en/currency/Banknotes_coins/Luf/Billets_Luf/index.html Banknotes from Banque Centrale du Luxembourg
2. ↑ http://www.bcl.lu/en/currency/Banknotes_coins/Luf/pieces_Luf/index.html Coins from Banque Centrale du Luxembourg
3. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20070926215853/http://www.globalfinancialdata.com/index.php3?action=showghoc&country_name=LUXEMBOURG. Archived from the original on September 26, 2007. Retrieved February 28, 2007.  Missing or empty |title= (help)

External links

• Overview of franc of Luxembourg from the BBC
• Historical banknotes of Luxembourg (English) (German)