Gold francs
| Gold francs | |
|---|---|
| Country: | Member countries of the International Telecommunication Union and the Universal Postal Union |
| Subdivision: | 100 centimes |
| ISO 4217 code : | XFO |
| Abbreviation: | Gfr. |
|
Exchange rate : (fixed) |
1 EUR =? XFO |
The gold franc was from 1920 to 2003 an international fictitious currency for settlement of postal and telecommunications services . The abbreviations were Gfr. And the ISO 4217 symbol XFO .
history
The gold franc corresponded to the germinal franc , which was legally established by Napoléon Bonaparte on the 7th Germinal XI (March 28, 1803). The gold franc never existed as a coin in France, the smallest gold coin in France was the 5 franc coin, 10 and 20 franc coins were common. 1 franc coins were minted in silver. 10 francs corresponded to 2.9032 grams of fine gold .
Up until the Universal Postal Congress in Madrid in 1920, the franc currency of the Latin Monetary Union served as the basis for setting fees and billing between the postal union countries . The assumption was made that this is an unchangeable standard of value. Until before the First World War , this was also the case, regardless of whether the Swiss franc or the French franc was used to set prices and make payments . When, as a result of the war, the value of the coin units in the various Franconian countries completely shifted and there were finally as many Franconian currencies as there were Franconian countries, doubts arose which could not be resolved by the fact that, as was usually the case at times, the im The highest value of the currency - predominantly the Swiss currency - made fundamental. To eliminate the difficulties, the postal congress in Madrid in 1920, after long negotiations, adopted the gold franc as the basis for setting fees and settling accounts. According to the Universal Postal Treaty of Madrid, the value of the gold franc should be the same:
- "The amount of gold (by weight and fineness) as the monetary standard , corresponds to the countries that have the Swiss franc as monetary unit under the current legislation".
In principle, all association countries should adjust the fees in their own currency as precisely as possible to the value of the gold franc; however, the association countries were largely free to set the equivalent values for the fee rates in correspondence, so that the equivalent values were not allowed to exceed the gold value. In order to convert the gold franc into the currencies of the individual countries, according to the resolutions passed by the Postal Congress in Madrid, the exchange rate of a country had to be chosen whose currency system met the following conditions:
- Redeemability of the paper money in the actual gold money corresponding to the face value of this money,
- Freedom of gold export (these conditions were met primarily by the monetary system of the United States of America, so that the conversion of gold francs into amounts of national currencies and vice versa usually took place via the American dollar ).
Payment in gold was generally permitted. When using bills of exchange , a distinction had to be made as to whether the creditor country fulfilled both conditions or not. In the first case, the amount owed was always to be converted into the currency of the creditor country according to the par ratio of the gold coins ( i.e. the gold franc to the gold money of the creditor country) and to be paid with the amount determined in this way. In the second case, unless the administrations had agreed otherwise, the amount owed was initially to be converted into the currency of a country meeting the above conditions according to the par ratio of gold coins; the sum calculated in this way was then to be converted into the currency of the creditor country according to its exchange rate , and in exceptional cases also into the currency of another country, and paid with the amount determined in this way.
The Post Congress in Stockholm in 1924 had retained the gold franc as the standard of value for setting fees and settling bills. However, the weight and fineness of the intergovernmental unit of coins were stipulated in the treaty and, in order to dispense with reference to a specific group of countries, the term gold franc was changed to 100 centimes as gold francs weighing 10/31 grams and with a Fineness of 0.900 was set. For the determination of fees, the principle was retained that the fees to be determined in each association country for all types of mail must correspond as closely as possible to the value of the gold franc. In the case of correspondence, however, the freedom of the administrations to set the fees largely at their own discretion was restricted to the effect that the fees actually levied must be kept within certain minimum and maximum rates. The Post Congress in Stockholm changed the principles of the settlement of debts to the effect that from now on debts are to be paid in gold or in the currency of a country where paper money is exchanged for gold on sight and where gold is free to import and export. Only if the debtor and creditor country agreed could bills of exchange in the currency of the creditor country be used in the future; in this case the gold franc amount was converted into the currency of the debtor country via the currency of a gold currency country and from this into the currency of the creditor country.
introduction
At the Universal Postal Congress in Madrid in 1920 , the fictitious gold franc weighing 10/31 grams with 9/31 grams gold was introduced as the association currency in the Universal Postal Treaty. All fee rates of the Universal Postal Treaty and its subsidiary agreements were set in gold francs. The accounts in the letter post service (postage costs and fees for reply coupons ) and in the parcel post service (fee reimbursements from country to country) were drawn up in gold francs . The unit of account was used in the universal postal agreement to express fees and remuneration rates uniformly. When the World News Treaty of 1932 replaced the World Telegraph Treaty of 1875, the purpose and definition of the gold franc were adopted as Article 32 of the treaty. By 1923, Germany went over to agreeing the tariffs for traffic with the successor states of Austria-Hungary , with Luxembourg and also with Danzig in gold francs. The gold franc as the basis of calculation for the international reply coupon was replaced in 1986 by the special drawing right .
Legal
The definition of the gold franc adopted at the Universal Postal Congress in Stockholm in 1924 has been confirmed by the following congresses and also by the 1952 congress in Brussels. There were the following options for settling debts:
- according to the choice of debtor management in gold or with bills of exchange or checks payable on sight in the creditor country, which are made out in the currency of a country in which an authorized bank note issuer buys and sells gold or gold foreign exchange for national money at fixed rates; However, by special agreement, checks and bills of exchange can be made out in the currency of the creditor country even if this does not comply with the above conditions.
- by agreement between debtor and creditor administration through the mediation of a bank that is connected to the transfer transactions of the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, or through any other agreed procedure.
- according to the provisions of special payment agreements, for example between the countries, to which the administrations concerned are subject. In principle, payments are to be made as soon as possible, at the latest within two months of receipt of the statements made.
The Deutsche Bundespost was only able to carry out an orderly international settlement of payments for the billable international mail services, which were gradually resumed after the Second World War, only at the beginning of 1949. Since the Deutsche Mark (DM) did not have its own gold parity at that time, but was tied to the US dollar , only this was used as the gold currency for converting gold franc amounts. The conversion was carried out according to the rate published by the Allied Control Council in Circulaire No. 43/1948 of the International Bureau of the Universal Postal Union of 1 US dollar = 3.060977 gold francs. In addition, use was made largely of the option given under c) in the Universal Postal Treaty to proceed in accordance with the provisions of the special payment agreements that the Federal Republic of Germany had concluded with numerous countries in the early 1950s and according to which amounts owed under certain conditions also in DM already recognized as currency, could be settled.
Exchange rates
Each public administration set the official conversion rate of the gold franc to the national currency and communicated it to the International Telecommunication Union (UIT) , which published the rates regularly. Before the First World War, the gold franc had an official value of 0.85 gold marks ℳ . During the inflation , the gold franc reached its highest value on November 21, 1923 at one trillion paper marks. According to the Coin Act of August 30, 1924, the equivalent value was 0.81 Reichsmarks , which was used by the German administration for accounting purposes. To calculate the collection fee , however, the gold franc was set at an average of 0.85 ℛℳ, after April 1, 1937, it was 0.82 ℛℳ. On June 21, 1948 the equivalent value was set at 1.089 DM , on November 1, 1948 at around 1.20 DM. From 1952 to March 4, 1961, the equivalent value for the gold franc was 1.372 DM, which was due to the revaluation of the DM on March 5, 1961 was improved to 1.307 DM.
| date | currency | Adjusted for inflation, this would be ... today | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1914 | 0.85 ℳ | 3.42778 euros | |
| 1923 | 1,000,000,000,000 paper marks (1 trillion) |
- | For the inflation years 1922 and 1923, the conversion with annual values does not make sense. Therefore, prices from the era of hyperinflation cannot be converted meaningfully. One trillion paper marks corresponded to one Rentenmark . |
| August 30, 1924 | 0.81 Reichsmark (ℛℳ) | 3.35914 euros | To calculate the collection fee, however, the gold franc was set at 0.85 (EUR 3.52502) on average. |
| 1925 | 0.81 ℛℳ | 3.09883 euros | "0.85 ℛℳ (3.25186 euros) |
| 1926 | 0.81 ℛℳ | 3.09265 euros | "0.85 ℛℳ (3.24537 euros) |
| 1927 | 0.81 ℛℳ | 2.97084 euros | "0.85 ℛℳ (3.11755 euros) |
| 1928 | 0.81 ℛℳ | 2.89556 euros | "0.85 ℛℳ (3.03855 euros) |
| 1929 | 0.81 ℛℳ | 2.85277 euros | "0.85 ℛℳ (2.99365 euros) |
| 1930 | 0.81 ℛℳ | 2.96546 euros | "0.85 ℛℳ (3.1119 euros) |
| 1931 | 0.81 ℛℳ | 3.22683 euros | "0.85 ℛℳ (3.38618 euros) |
| 1932 | 0.81 ℛℳ | 3.64202 euros | "0.85 ℛℳ (3.82187 euros) |
| 1933 | 0.81 ℛℳ | 3.72014 euros | "0.85 ℛℳ (3.90385 euros) |
| 1934 | 0.81 ℛℳ | 3.62587 euros | "0.85 ℛℳ (3.80492 euros) |
| 1935 | 0.81 ℛℳ | 3.56877 euros | "0.85 ℛℳ (3.745 euros) |
| 1936 | 0.81 ℛℳ | 3.52645 euros | "0.85 ℛℳ (3.7006 euros) |
| until March 31, 1937 | 0.81 ℛℳ | 3.50891 euros | "0.85 ℛℳ (3.68219 euros) |
| April 1, 1937 | 0.82 ℛℳ | 3.55223 euros | |
| 1938 | 0.82 ℛℳ | 3.53807 euros | |
| 1939 | 0.82 ℛℳ | 3.52047 euros | |
| 1940 | 0.82 ℛℳ | 3.41462 euros | |
| 1941 | 0.82 ℛℳ | 3.33459 euros | |
| 1942 | 0.82 ℛℳ | 3.25009 euros | |
| 1943 | 0.82 ℛℳ | 3.20521 euros | |
| 1944 | 0.82 ℛℳ | 3.13929 euros | |
| 1945 | 0.82 ℛℳ | 3.06871 euros | |
| 1946 | 0.82 RM | 2.81017 euros | |
| 1947 | 0.82 RM | 2.62879 euros | |
| until June 20, 1948 | 0.82 RM | 2.1217 euros | |
| June 21, 1948 | 1,089 DM | 2.81772 euros | |
| November 1, 1948 | 1,200 DM | 3.10493 euros | |
| 1949 | 1,200 DM | 3.15221 euros | |
| 1950 | 1,200 DM | 3.37135 euros | |
| 1951 | 1,200 DM | 3.13322 euros | |
| 1952 | 1.372 DM | 3.50864 euros | |
| 1953 | 1.372 DM | 3.56931 euros | |
| 1954 | 1.372 DM | 3.55509 euros | |
| 1955 | 1.372 DM | 3.50601 euros | |
| 1956 | 1.372 DM | 3.41052 euros | |
| 1957 | 1.372 DM | 3.34364 euros | |
| 1958 | 1.372 DM | 3.26847 euros | |
| 1959 | 1.372 DM | 3.24897 euros | |
| 1960 | 1.372 DM | 3.19781 euros | |
| until March 4, 1961 | 1.372 DM | 3.11981 euros | |
| from March 5, 1961 | 1.307 DM | 2.97201 euros | |
| 1962 | 1.307 DM | 2.89106 euros | |
| 1963 | 1.307 DM | 2.80685 euros | |
| 1964 | 1.307 DM | 2.74107 euros | |
| 1965 | 1.307 DM | 2.65607 euros | |
| 1966 | 1.307 DM | 2.57122 euros | |
| 1967 | 1.307 DM | 2.52328 euros | |
| 1968 | 1.307 DM | 2.48354 euros | |
| 1969 | 1.307 DM | 2.43963 euros |
See also
literature
- René Sédillot: Le Franc. Histoire d'une monnaie des origines à nos jours . Paris: Sirey, 1953.
-
Concise dictionary of the postal system :
- 1st edition; Berlin and Frankfurt (Oder), 1926; P. 273
- 2nd completely reworked edition; Frankfurt am Main, 1953; P. 334
- Handheld electrical telecommunications dictionary . 2nd Edition. Federal Ministry for the Post and Telecommunications , Berlin 1970; P. 749 (Basse)
-
Deutsche Verkehrs-Zeitung (DVZ), Berlin
- 1920, p. 345
- 1921, p. 57 and p. 341 ff
- 1922, p. 5
- Memorandum on the Universal Postal Union Treaties of Madrid (DVZ 1921, p. 341 ff .; Archive 1925, p. 221 ff.)
- Memorandum on the Universal Postal Union Treaties of Stockholm (Archive 1925, p. 232 ff.)
-
Journal for the postal and telecommunications system | Journal for the postal and telecommunications system (ZPF); Edited and published by Josef Keller Verlag with the support of the Federal Minister for Post and Telecommunications
- 1951, p. 554
-
Journal for law, administration and transport science of the Deutsche Bundespost . Archives for the postal and telecommunications system; Bonn.
- Issue 7/1967
- Jean Davezac, Joseph Pouillès: From the gold franc to a new unit of account in the postal and telecommunications system , year: 30, issue 3/1978, pp. 213-219.
- Hans Friedrich Leinung: The adaptation of the club currency of the universal postal union to the changes in the world currency system . Volume: 32, Issue 3/1980, pp. 209–218.
- Duke p. 24
- World news treaties or international telecommunications treaties
- Union Postale , No. 5/1951, p. 72 ff.
Individual evidence
- ↑ René Sédillot, p. 172 f.
- ↑ a b c d e f Concise dictionary of the postal system . 2nd Edition. P. 334
- ↑ a b Manual dictionary of electronic telecommunications, 2nd edition, p. 749
- ^ Michel catalog , postal stationery Germany 1999; P. 421
- ↑ This figure was based on the template: Inflation determined and refers to the previous calendar year at most