E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
Old French franc notes can be exchanged for euros at the Bank of France until the end of Friday
Six centuries after the first one was minted and a decade after they went out of circulation, the last French francs are being exchanged for euros, severing France's final link to its former national currency.
The Banque de France set a deadline of the close of business Friday for French savers to exchange whatever leftover franc notes they've kept socked away in drawers or under mattresses, whether held onto intentionally as souvenirs or simply forgotten about.
The euro replaced the franc in wallets and purses in January 2002, but the central bank has continued to accept francs in exchange for euros until now.
The franc's end comes as the euro suffers the worst crisis since its creation, and the once-taboo question of a eurozone break-up is now front page fodder.
A report in London's Daily Telegraph said large lines formed outside banks as customers carrying plastic bags full of old notes waited to exchange old money.
The report said there were an estimated 50m franc notes still in circulation at the end of last year. The French Government predicts that €100m worth of these notes - around a fifth - will not be exchanged, having been lost or squirrelled away as souvenirs.
The Associated Press and msnbc.com staff contributed to this report.
More from msnbc.com and NBC News:
Leave a Comment:
just waiting on the "next big thing" in money. So when is the "world currency" comming out?
never. europeans are having the hardest time working together. it will be the day that people around the world stop thinking of themselves as members of a locale but as members of a world community. in fact i doubt it will ever happen. there are conspiracy theories about a tyrannical world government etc that are floating around. it takes a certain level of advancement for people to seriously (not just give lip service to it and then act in the exact opposite way) consider trusting other nationalities to make a "world currency". People are no where close. So there will never be a "world euro".
If you cannot see e-money coming, you are blind. You will be REQUIRED to be in the electronic system of money to be able to buy and sell. This is coming quickly. Those of you who really believe the Bible look up Rev 13:17 describing 2000 years ago that this would happen. IF you go along with this system, you will regret it eternally. Now, you cannot say you were not warned. They will be able to turn you OFF financially at the press of a few buttons. Talk about control! Time to work toward being self sufficient in your food supply, energy, income. There are ways to do it if you research. Aquaponics for food, sterling solars for energy and income (they must pay you or your LLC/corp for extra energy you produce), and a trusted paid accountant in the system to administer everything. Get to work.
Debt is the new currency so Euro, dollars, francs are only IOU's by the Central Banksters.. someday sea shells will return as the global currency.
The new global currency is going to be digital.
Money will be become worthless. It is happening right before your eyes.
The New World Order is at your front door. In the NWO we the people will lose all of our rights of freedom as Citizens and become Subjects (SLAVES) in the New World Order which I also refer to as the "New World Chaos" or the "Old World Chaos" or the "Old Moon Chaos" because all the Golalists that want a one world government should move to another planet like the Moon and take Obama with them.
Jeff, dude WTF
Jeffrey D. Parks...
You've got your head on right. Too bad so many American Citizens are terribly naive or uneducated.
Amen, brother!!!! Testify!!!!
Bonus! We have our second amendment rights.I do not believe that American troops could spend any great amount of time shooting countrymen.Do you think your brother/son ,dtr,whoever from say Ohio could shoot townspeople in Iowa? I can't concieve of it.
Pained, Jeff may be nutty, but it certainly has happened in the past with American troops firing on (and killing) Americans: The Whiskey Rebellion, the Bonus Army, Kent State are just a few that pop up immediately in my mind. I am sure that no one could conceive of brothers shooting brothers before 1860, but that is exactly what happened.....
I don't see it now.We would have someone on the ground and news would say,joe blow down the street was killed by so and so from texas.Would give pause....I hope
Whats amazing about this trite from Jeffy, is that it attracts other buggers that are as equally as looney tunes, like a light attracts bugs. I think the institutions need more beds.
If you cannot see e-money coming, you are blind. You will be REQUIRED to be in the electronic system of money to be able to buy and sell. This is coming quickly. Those of you who really believe the Bible look up Rev 13:17 describing 2000 years ago that this would happen. IF you go along with this system, you will regret it eternally. Now, you cannot say you were not warned. They will be able to turn you OFF financially at the press of a few buttons. Talk about control! Time to work toward being self sufficient in your food supply, energy, income. There are ways to do it if you research. Aquaponics for food, sterling solars for energy and income (they must pay you or your LLC/corp for extra energy you produce), and a trusted paid accountant in the system to administer everything. Get to work.
The "world currency" is in the making. The Federal Reserve Bank has been manipulating our money for a long time and our "leaders" have been "helping" us in such a way as to facilitate the dollar's demise. Right now Mr. Obama wants to send more money to the UN's International Monetary Fund, which America ALREADY contributes the lion's share to. Mr. Obama wants to send even more while cutting back on our military defense, and medicaid and medicare and social security! We don't need to bail-out Europe! We need to help America NOW. I am running for President to do just that. There is a People's Plan that will save America. It is all laid out under the Issues section on the 2012 Presidential Candidates website under Kathyern Lane. Check that out and then ask yourself...If we have a viable plan that will work, why isn't our government implementing it? And why has no one talked about it? Not the news media or the Professional Politicians currently running for President. And just why are we focused on who the front-runner is (like a horse race) instead of examining the plan of each candidate and asking the news media why we don't hear from all the candidates?
DGAF cause I'm only on this planet temporarily and the crazy people that think wealth is life can have it all to themselves.
Kathyern...
The Elite benefitting from the status quo depend on the active participation and complicity of millions of Citizens. For some reason, unbeknownst to me, those Citizens continue to do so.
Do I dare say there are that many stupid Citizens in America?
I read many articles on socio-economic topics supported by documented facts and figures on the ShadowStats website that clash with what government and media report. Do the intentionally Dumbed Down youth of today just don't care what's actually going on, or have they become incapable of serious independent thought?
HITLER was right when he said, at the 1933 Olympics, it was the start of a new world order----damn. I bet he's rolling over in his grave laughing now.
1) Those Olympics were in 1936
2) Hitler was apparently cremated. The Soviets had/Russians have what they claim to be his skull, but as far as I know it has never been submitted to independant testing. In any event, he has no grave to roll over in.
Franc-ly, dear, I dont give a dime....
love it!
A sou for your thoughts
They'll regret it as Spain and Greece's economic woes devalue the Euro to almost nothing.
The structure of the Euro is too confining, and it is costing blood, lives, jobs, and domestic tranquility! It will not be long before Greece, Spain, Italy, France, and others revert back to their own respective currencies, and set their own monetary policies, which allow for inflation, unlike that of the unbending European Central Bank. Two or three years of no Iranian oil will sink Europe completely, making it virtually a dependency of Russia under Putin.
The ECB is essentially the suceesor to the Deustche Bundesbank, which was modelled on the Federal Reserve. The Germans, however, are not as big fans of inflation as the FED due to the Weimar experience. They are going to remain "unbending", with widespread support among the German people, who want no inflation and feel they are being punished/taxed enough for the sins of the rest of Europe, especially the southern part.
But....they had the coolest sounding money besides "Yen" and "Rupees".
.....Dammit.