Franc

Franc, a silver coin, weighing 5 grammes, and equivalent to about 9Jd. The name was first adopted in France in 1799 as a substitute for the old livre, and was adopted as the unit of the monetary system in Belgium, Italy, and Switzerland in 1865. It is divided into 100 centimes or 20 sous (5 centimes). In Greece, where it was adopted in 1882, it is called drachma; in Spain (in 1811),peseta; and the same coin has other names in Roumania, Servia, and Bulgaria. In Italy a lira is a franc.