Luxembourg franc

The Luxembourg franc (F or ISO LUF, Frang), subdivided into 100 centimes, was the currency of Luxembourg between 1854 and 2002, except from 1941 to 1944. From 1944 to 2002, its value was equal to that of the Belgian franc. The franc remained in circulation until 2002, when it was replaced by the euro. 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 (BF/FB). 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 1F = BF. In May 1940, the franc was pegged to the German Reichsmark at a rate of 4 francs = 1 Reichsmark. This was changed to 10F = 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. The Luxembourg franc was reestablished in 1944, once more tied to the Belgian franc at par. In August 1993, the European Exchange Rate Mechanism expanded its intervention margin to 15% to accommodate speculation against the French franc and other currencies. As a contingency measure against the pression this generated on European currencies, the Finance Minister, Jean-Claude Juncker, secretly had a new series of Luxembourg franc notes printed.