In the time of John II
Gold coins made for his ransom were inscribed with 'King of the Franks'.
This inscription became the name of the currency, the franc.
WORDS
The Currency and Men Bearing the Name Frank
An inscription meaning 'King of the Franks' became the name of a currency. A great king established a silver system that lasted a thousand years, and a printer in a distant land supported the credit of paper money.
Money Named 'Franc' in 3 Minutes
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After the fall of the Western Roman Empire
The Frankish kings first minted gold coins that copied the emperor's face.
Over time
The emperor's name disappeared, and the names of the place and person who made the coin were inscribed instead.
794
Charlemagne issued a decree that set the counting system for silver coins.
794
It was decided that 240 silver coins would be minted from 1 pound of silver.
Until then, it was 264 coins.
After that
This counting system survived in Britain for over 1000 years.
1729
The printer Franklin explained the role of paper money.
After that
He printed patterns of real leaves to prevent counterfeiting.
2In numbers
240coins
Silver coins minted from 1 pound of silver. Divisible by both 12 and 20.
3What would you do?
You are a printer who makes paper money. What clever idea would you use to stop counterfeiters?
Pick one
Print a detailed pattern that's impossible to copy.
Franklin made a cast of a real leaf and printed the detailed pattern of its veins onto the paper. This pattern prevented counterfeiting.
Reduce the number of people who make the paper.
Franklin put his ingenuity into the paper itself. The skill of the young printer supported the paper's credibility.
But this paper money began to draw cold stares from across the ocean.
4Read more
King of the Franks
The name of the currency, the franc, originated from the inscription on a certain gold coin. 'FRANCORUM REX'—King of the Franks. This was the legend inscribed on a gold coin struck to pay the ransom of Jean II.
When the Emperor's Name Vanishes
Before they called themselves 'King of the Franks', the Frankish kings who established kingdoms in Western Europe struck different coins. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, they produced pseudo-imperial gold trientes that copied the face and titles of the emperor in Constantinople. However, the emperor's name eventually disappeared from the coinage, to be replaced by the names of the mint and the moneyer.
A Silver Standard for a Thousand Years
In Frankish history, there is another important king: Charlemagne. At a time when large gold coins had disappeared from Western Europe and people were using small silver coins, he reformed the silver coinage system. In 794, a decree was issued at the Synod of Frankfurt.
It stipulated that 240 deniers were to be struck from one livre, that is, one pound of silver. Previously, a pound had been reckoned as 264 deniers, but this was changed to 240. This number was divisible by both 12 and 20. One livre was 20 sous, and one sou was 12 deniers. This system of accounting survived in Great Britain for over a thousand years as the pound, shilling, and pence system. The decree also stipulated that the coins be struck from pure silver and bear Charlemagne's name.
The Man Who Printed Leaf Veins
In a different time and place, during the age of paper money, a young man appeared: a printer by the name of Benjamin Franklin. In 1729, he wrote 'A Modest Enquiry into the Nature and Necessity of a Paper-Currency', in which he argued for the role of paper money in a land short of specie.
Franklin not only argued his case but also took on the printing of colonial currency himself. And he devised an ingenious method to prevent counterfeiting. It was a technique called 'nature printing', which involved taking a mould of a real leaf and printing its intricate vein patterns onto the paper. This pattern deterred counterfeiters, and the young printer's skill supported the credit of the paper money.
But from across the sea, cold eyes began to look upon that paper.
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