The Swiss franc (plural: francs; in German: Frank, plural: Franken) has been the currency of Liechtenstein since 1920. The Swiss franc is legal tender since Liechtenstein is in a customs and monetary union with Switzerland. The 1980 treaty between Switzerland and Liechtenstein allows Liechtenstein to mint limited amounts of Swiss francs with a Liechtenstein inscription, but only in the form of commemorative coins (mainly issued for collectors), and they are not allowed to issue banknotes. [1]
Liechtenstein used the Austrian krone and heller (and the Liechtenstein krone) until 1920, [2] and switched to the Swiss franc due to the krone's instability. Liechtenstein coins are so rare that they do not actually circulate, and no banknotes have been issued, with the exception of three emergency issues of heller in 1920. [3] Most of the Liechtenstein franc coins have the same amount of precious metal as the Swiss franc, except for the coins minted in the late 1980s and 1990s.
The highest number of Liechtenstein franc coins minted was the 1 franc minted in 1924; 60,000 were struck, but 45,355 of them were later melted. If the number of melted coins is excluded, the highest mintage would be the 50 franc piece minted in 1988 commemorating the 50th anniversary of the reign of Prince Franz Joseph II and the 10 franc piece minted in 1990 commemorating the succession of Prince Hans-Adam II. Both number 35,000. [4]
The following denominations were issued
The ducats were in minted in 986 gold, and all other coins were minted in 583 silver. All coins bore on the obverse side the right-facing bust of each prince and on the reverse side his arms.
In 1862, under Prince Johann II, another coin was minted, a vereinsthaler , which had the same design as the previous coins and was taken out of circulation in 1893, with a value of 3.53 crowns. There was a currency reform on 26 August 1898. 1 florin (German: gulden) now had the value of a Liechtenstein crown (Liechtenstein krone) and there were 100 hellers in a crown. Under Johann II, silver coins were issued with denominations of 1 crown, 2 crowns and 5 crowns. Coins with denominations of 10 crowns and 20 crowns were minted in gold. Unlike the previous coins, the obverse side depicted the left-facing bust of the prince. These coins were taken out of circulation on 28 August 1920.
On 26 May 1924, there was another currency reform, the new currency had 100 rappens to the franc. This currency is still the official currency of Liechtenstein today. Prince Johann II had silver coins minted with denominations of 1⁄2 franc, 1 franc, 2 francs and 5 francs. When Franz I came to power, he did not have any more of these denominations minted, because there were enough of his predecessor's silver coins in circulation. During his rule, gold coins with denominations of 10 francs and 20 francs were minted in 1930. They depict on the obverse side the bust of the prince, now facing to the right again.
From then on, Liechtenstein francs were minted only for collection purposes, since the Swiss franc had become the main currency of Liechtenstein. In 1946 Prince Franz Josef II had two denominations of coins minted, with face values of 10 francs and 20 francs; and ten years later gold coins with face values of 25 francs, 50 francs and 100 francs. The obverse of these coins, for the first time, depicts a Liechtenstein prince with his wife. The hundredth anniversary of the National bank of Liechtenstein in 1961 was celebrated by the minting of two gold coins with a face value 25 francs and 50 francs. For Franz Josef's golden jubilee in 1988, a special commemorative 10 franc silver coin and a 50 franc gold coin were minted. In 1990, Hans Adam II had a 10 franc silver coin and a 50 franc gold coin minted to celebrate the ceremony of Homage (German : Erbhuldigung), marking the transfer of power to the new prince. In 2006, two coin designs with the same face value were issued in celebration of the 200-year anniversary of the sovereignty of the Principality of Liechtenstein. In 2019, a set of four coins, in denominations of 5, 10, 25 and 100 francs, were issued in celebration of the 300th anniversary of the sovereignty of the Principality of Liechtenstein. [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]
The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription francorum rex used on early French coins and until the 18th century, or from the French franc, meaning "frank".
A thaler or taler is one of the large silver coins minted in the states and territories of the Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg monarchy during the Early Modern period. A thaler size silver coin has a diameter of about 40 mm and a weight of about 25 to 30 grams. The word is shortened from Joachimsthaler, the original thaler coin minted in Joachimsthal, Bohemia, from 1520.
The krone, plural kroner, is the currency of the Kingdom of Norway. It was traditionally known as the Norwegian crown in English; however, this has fallen out of common usage. It is nominally subdivided into 100 øre, although the last coins denominated in øre were withdrawn in 2012.
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The krone is the official currency of Denmark, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands, introduced on 1 January 1875. Both the ISO code "DKK" and currency sign "kr." are in common use; the former precedes the value, the latter in some contexts follows it. The currency is sometimes referred to as the Danish crown in English, since krone literally means crown. Krone coins have been minted in Denmark since the 17th century.
The lek is the currency of Albania. Historically, it was subdivided into 100 qintars.
The CFP franc is the currency used in the French overseas collectivities of French Polynesia, New Caledonia, and Wallis and Futuna. The initials CFP originally stood for colonies françaises du Pacifique but since 2022 is officially Collectivités françaises du Pacifique. Its ISO 4217 currency code is XPF. The CFP franc is subdivided into 100 centimes, although there are no centime denominations. The currency is issued by Institut d'émission d'outre-mer (IEOM).
The Swiss franc, or simply the franc, is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It is also legal tender in the Italian exclave of Campione d'Italia which is surrounded by Swiss territory. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) issues banknotes and the federal mint Swissmint issues coins.
The franc, also commonly distinguished as the French franc (FF), was a currency of France. Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amount of money. It was reintroduced in 1795. After two centuries of inflation, it was redenominated in 1960, with each new franc (NF) being worth 100 old francs. The NF designation was continued for a few years before the currency returned to being simply the franc. Many French residents, though, continued to quote prices of especially expensive items in terms of the old franc, up to and even after the introduction of the euro in 2002. The French franc was a commonly held international reserve currency of reference in the 19th and 20th centuries. Between 1998 and 2002, the conversion of francs to euros was carried out at a rate of 6.55957 francs to 1 euro.
The lira was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002. It was introduced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1807 at par with the French franc, and was subsequently adopted by the different states that would eventually form the Kingdom of Italy in 1861. It was subdivided into 100 centesimi, which means "hundredths" or "cents". The lira was also the currency of the Albanian Kingdom from 1941 to 1943.
The Egyptian pound is the official currency of Egypt. It is divided into 100 piastres, or qirsh and was historically divided into 1,000 milliemes.
The Belgian franc was the currency of the Kingdom of Belgium from 1832 until 2002 when the euro was introduced. It was subdivided into 100 subunits, each known as a centiem in Dutch, or centime in French and German.
The Barbadian dollar It is often abbreviated to international unofficial abbreviations in Barbados such as: B$, BD$ or the International vehicle registration code BDS$ is also commonly used, a currency code that is otherwise reserved for Bangladesh outside Barbados. As such the present Barbados dollar has the official ISO 4217 code of BB which matches the [dot] .bb Cc-TLD domain names classification for Barbados under ISO 3166, plus D for dollar in the foreign exchange market. The Barbadian dollar is considered as a currency which can be divided into 100 cents, though the 1 cent coin is in the process of being phased out.
The guilder or florin was the currency of the Netherlands from 1434 until 2002, when it was replaced by the euro.
The franc was the official currency of the Principality of Monaco until 1995, when it changed to the French franc which was replaced by the euro in 2002. The franc was subdivided into 100 centimes or 10 décimes. The Monégasque franc circulated alongside the French franc with the same value. Like the French franc, the Monégasque franc was revalued in 1960 at a rate of 100 old francs = 1 new franc. The official euro-to-franc exchange rate was MCF 6.55957 to EUR 1.
The cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy used a currency system consisting of based on the old unit of the Schilling, with the Schilling divided into 4 Rappen or 12 Haller. The Taler was a large silver coin equivalent to 72 Schilling or 2 Gulden that came into use in the 16th century. The Batzen was an intermediate coin equivalent to 2 Schilling or 1⁄18Gulden.
The Krone was the currency of Austria and Liechtenstein after the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1919) until the introduction of the Austrian schilling (1925), and, in Liechtenstein, the Swiss franc.
The coins of the Swiss franc are the official coins used in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The name of the subunit is centime in French and internationally, Rappen in German, centesimo in Italian, and rap in Romansh. There are coins in denominations of 5 centimes, 10 centimes, 20 centimes, 1⁄2 franc, 1 franc, 2 francs, and 5 francs.
The krone coin is the second-smallest denomination of the Danish krone.
The romanat or român was a proposed currency of the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, a precursor of the Romanian nation state. It was subdivided into 10 decimi or bani and 100 sutimi or bănișori.
Preceded by: Austrian krone and Liechtenstein krone Reason: Austrian krone was unstable | Currency of Liechtenstein 1920 – Concurrent with: Swiss franc | Succeeded by: Current |