France, 1 franc minted by Napoleon I in Paris, 1810

Due to its decimal structure the franc can only be a creation of the French Revolution. One of the fathers of the new coin is the gentleman shown here: Napoleon Bonaparte - general, emperor and, at the end of his life, an exile on the island of St. Helena. The French currency had been weakened by inflation and the constant degradation of the metals used for centuries. At the beginning of the French Revolution the inflation increased and saved assets continued losing value. People took their gold and silver abroad to save them. As a result emergency currencies and paper bills were issued. In 1794 the leaders decided in Paris that the French monetary system had to be reorganised and reformed. One year later, in 1795, the new currency, the franc based on 5 grams of silver was officially issued. This is fine but it does make one ask the following question: Where did the finances come from to enable this reform? This is where the little man from the island of Corsica comes in. The French finances vastly profited from Napoleon's victorious military campaigns and wars. In 1797 the French treasury received over 50 million francs only from the booty of Napoleon's Italian campaign.

Republic of the Seven United Netherlands, Rijder 1763, Dordrecht

Holland was the most important of the seven provinces of the northern Netherlands. Its economic focus was the city of Amsterdam – also known as the Venice of the North, because it was built on piles and traversed by canals. In 1622, it already numbered 100,000 inhabitants. Amsterdam made thriving progress, principally in the 17th century, through world trade, and grew to be the pre-eminent trade metropolis of Europe. The Dutch East India and West India trading companies both had their headquarters here. The rijder, which owes its name to its obverse design, was added to the circulating ducat in 1606 as a second, larger gold denomination. In its standard it was modeled on the unite, which had been introduced a few years before by the English king James I (1603-1625). Between 1640 and 1650, the production of rijders was halted, but 100 years later the provinces took up its issue again, as shown by our example of 1763. That was for withdrawing the worn and clipped Netherlands ducats, which were flowing back into the country, from circulation. Unlike the ducats, which were traded on daily gold prices, the rijider had a fixed price, which between 1748 and 1765 was established at 14 guilders.

History of U.S. Currency - more

Franklin's Unique Counterfeit Deterrent
1739

Benjamin Franklin's printing firm in Philadelphia printed colonial notes with nature prints---unique raised impressions of patterns cast from actual leaves. This process added an innovative and effective counterfeit deterrent to notes, not completely understood until centuries later.

British Ban
1764

Following years of restrictions on colonial paper currency, Britain finally ordered a complete ban on the issuance of paper money by the Colonies.

Paper Currency With Background Color
1905

The last U.S. paper currency printed with background color was the $20 Gold Certificate, Series 1905, which had a golden tint and a red seal and serial number.

The first $10 Federal Reserve Notes
1914

The first $10 Federal Reserve notes were issued. These notes were larger than today’s notes and featured a portrait of President Andrew Jackson on the face.

Currency Redesign
1996

In the first significant design change in 67 years, U.S. currency was redesigned to incorporate a series of new counterfeit deterrents. The new notes were issued beginning with the $100 note in 1996, followed by the $50 in 1997, the $20 in 1998 and the $10 and $5 notes in 2000. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing announced that new designs would be undertaken every 7-10 years to stay ahead of currency counterfeiters.

Secret Service Integrated Into Homeland Security Department
2003

Protecting the security of the dollar against counterfeiting takes its place side-by-side with other homeland security efforts, as the U.S. Secret Service is integrated into the new U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The New Color of Money: Safer. Smarter. More Secure.
The New $20 Note
2003

To stay ahead of currency counterfeiters, the U.S. government announced the new Series 2004 designs to be issued. For the first time since the Series 1905 $20 Gold Certificate, the new currency featured subtle background colors, beginning with the new $20 note on October 9, 2003. In this series, different colors are used for different denominations. This will help everyone – particularly those who are visually impaired – to tell denominations apart. The $20 note features subtle background colors of green, peach and blue, as well as symbols of freedom representing icons of Americana – in the case of the $20 note, images of the American eagle.

The New $50 Note
2004

A redesigned $50 note was issued on September 28, 2004. Similar to the redesigned $20 note, the new $50 note also featured subtle background colors and historical symbols of Americana – specific to the $50 note are subtle background colors of blue and red, and images of a waving American flag and a small metallic silver-blue star.

The New $10 Note
2006

The currency redesigns continue with the $10 note as the Series 2004A, which was issued on March 2, 2006. The “A” in the series designation indicates a change in some feature of the note, in this case, a change in the Treasurer’s signature. Like the new $20 and $50 notes, the redesigned $10 note features subtle shades of color and Symbols of Freedom – specific to the $10 note are background colors of orange, yellow and red along with images of the Statue of Liberty’s torch and the words “We the People” from the United States Constitution.

Viceroyalty of New Spain, Philip V (1724-1746), Real de a ocho (Peso) 1738, Mexico City

"VTRAQUE VNUM" (Together they are one), this inscription reflected the worldwide power of the Spanish crown as well as the motif on the coin: the two columns of Heracles enclose the world hemispheres and connect the Old World with the New. A Spanish crown holds the two hemispheres together.

Such pieces of 8 reales (Spanish: real de a ochos, so-called pesos) depicting the pillars of Heracles were minted in Mexico from local silver ores for the first time in 1732. They rapidly became an internationally accepted currency. After 1750, other Spanish-American mints such as Lima, Santa Fé and Potosí thus changed their motifs and started minting pesos as well.

Most of the coins minted in the Spanish colonies were made from silver, and only about 4 per cent were gold or bronze coins. In the years between 1537 and 1888, the Mexican mints struck approximately about 3 billion pesos. These coins, known as Spanish milled dollars, or – referring to their picture – as pillar dollars, circulated in North America until the middle of the 19th century.

Holy Roman Empire, Maria Theresia (1740-1780), Taler 1780 (Continued Coinage), Günzburg

From 1751 on, talers showing the bust of the Habsburg empress Maria Theresia were struck in a new weight standard, the so-called 20-gulden standard. Coins in this standard were called convention talers. Through coffee trade, the Maria Theresia taler spread quickly to the Ottoman Empire and Abissinia. The coin was so appreciated in the Orient that its minting continued even after Maria Theresia's death in 1780 whereas the dies dated 1780 were still used after that, making those talers a numismatic curiosity. In Eritrea and Ethiopia, Maria Theresia talers were minted until the mid 20th century – all of them dated 1780. Today, those talers can be seen as necklaces on African women, as jewelry and lucky charms.

Technorati Profile

France, 2nd Empire, Napoleon III (1852-1870), 100 Francs 1869

The franc was introduced as a currency during the French revolution in 1795, replacing the French livre as a basis for weighing and calculating. During the 19th century the franc became one of the world's leading currencies.
Because of its decimal structure the franc was adopted by Belgium in 1832 and later, by Switzerland in 1850.
Even the German mark was strongly influenced by the franc. The coin shown here is worth 100 francs. It was struck under Napoleon III (1852 - 1870).
Coins of such high value could only be minted after the Californian gold rush in 1849, explaining the comparatively low price of gold.