View source for Latin Monetary Union

{{short description|Unified coinage system in Europe}}
{{For|the 20th-century international organization of Romance-language countries|Latin Union}}
The '''Monetary Convention of 23 December 1865''' was a unified system of [[Coin|coinage]] that provided a degree of [[currency union|monetary integration]] among several European countries, initially [[Belgium]], [[France]], [[Italy]] and [[Switzerland]], at a time when the circulation of [[banknote]]s in these countries remained relatively marginal. In early 1866, it started being referred to in the British press as the '''Latin Monetary Union''', with intent to make clear that the United Kingdom would not join,{{R|Einaudi|p=18}} and has been generally referred to under that name ({{langx|fr|union latine}}) and the acronym '''LMU''' since then. A number of countries minted coins according to the LMU standard even though they did not formally join the LMU. 

The LMU has been viewed as a forerunner of late-20th-century [[Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union|European monetary union]] but cannot be directly compared with it, not least since the LMU did not rely on any common institutions.<ref name=Einaudi>{{cite journal |title=A Historical Perspective on the Euro: the Latin Monetary Union (1865–1926) |volume=16 |issue=3 |first=Luca |last=Einaudi |url=https://www.ifo.de/DocDL/dice-report-2018-3-einaudi-oct.pdf |journal=Ifo DICE Report |date=September 2018}}</ref>{{rp|17}} Unlike the [[Scandinavian Monetary Union]] established a few years later, the Latin Monetary Union remained limited to coinage and never extended to [[paper money]]. That made the LMU increasingly less relevant, and it was quietly disbanded in 1926.{{R|Einaudi|p=19}}

==History==
[[File:LatinMonetaryUnion 1866-1914.svg|thumb|Overview of contractual states (red) and associated states (other colours) between 1866 and 1914]]

===Preliminary context===
The LMU adopted the specifications of the [[French franc|French gold franc]], which had been introduced by [[Napoleon I]] in 1803 and was struck in denominations of 5, 10, 20, 40, 50 and 100 francs, with the 20 franc coin ({{convert|6.45161|g|gr|abbr=off|disp=or|lk=on}} of .900 fine gold struck on a {{convert|21|mm|in|adj=on|disp=or}} [[planchet]]) being the most common. In the French system the [[gold franc]] was interchangeable with the silver franc based on an exchange ratio of 1:15.5, which was the approximate relative value of the two metals at the time of the law of 1803.<ref>{{cite book |first=Henry Parker |last=Willis |author-link=Henry Parker Willis |title=A History of the Latin Monetary Union: A Study in International Monetary Action |place=Chicago |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=1901 |page=[https://archive.org/details/historyoflatinmo00willuoft/page/n31 1] |url=https://archive.org/details/historyoflatinmo00willuoft |access-date=12 June 2018 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

===Initial treaty===
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Exemplary standard of the LMU - France (1878)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Search the coin catalogue – Numista |url=https://en.numista.com/catalogue/index.php?e=france_section&a=1878&ct=coin |access-date=2023-03-12 |website=en.numista.com}}</ref>
! Denomination !! Composition !! Mass !! Diameter
|-
| 1 centime || Bronze || 1 g || 15 mm
|-
| 2 centimes || Bronze || 2 g || 20.2 mm
|-
| 5 centimes || Bronze || 5 g || 25 mm
|-
| 10 centimes || Bronze || 10 g || 30 mm
|-
| 20 centimes || Silver (.835) || 1 g || 16 mm
|-
| 50 centimes || Silver (.835) || 2.5 g || 18 mm
|-
| 1 franc || Silver (.835) || 5 g || 23 mm
|-
| 2 francs || Silver (.835) || 10 g || 27 mm
|-
| 5 francs || Silver (.900) || 25 g || 37 mm
|-
| 10 francs || Gold (.900) || 3.2258 g || 19 mm
|-
| 20 francs || Gold (.900) || 6.45161 g || 21 mm
|-
| 50 francs || Gold (.900) || 16.12903 g || 28 mm
|-
| 100 francs || Gold (.900) || 32.25806 g || 35 mm
|}
By treaty dated 23 December 1865,<ref name=treaty1865>{{cite book |url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k96073g/f471.table |title=Recueil des traités de la France (1864-1867) |trans-title=Collection of the treaties of France (1864-1867) |pages=453–458 |volume=9 |access-date=2007-09-30 |archive-date=2020-11-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201122085722/https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k96073g/f471.table |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Second French Empire|France]], [[Belgium]], [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]], and [[Switzerland]] formed the Latin Monetary Union. They agreed to a combined gold and silver standard ([[bimetalism|bimetallism]]) with a gold-to-silver [[ratio]] of 15.5 to 1 as established in the French franc. One LMU franc represented {{convert|4.5|g|gr|abbr=off}} of fine silver or {{convert|0.290322|g|gr|abbr=off}} of fine gold. 

The treaty required that all four contracting states strike freely exchangeable gold coins and silver coins according to common specifications. Before the treaty, for example, the fineness of the silver coins in the four states varied from 0.800 to 0.900. The treaty required that the largest silver coin of 5 francs be struck 0.900 fine and the fractional silver of 2 francs, 1 franc, 50 centimes and 20 centimes all be struck at 0.835 fine.<ref name=treaty1865/> The agreement came into force on 1 August 1866.<ref name="Polard">{{cite book |last=Pollard |first=John F. |year=2005 |title=Money and the Rise of the Modern Papacy: Financing the Vatican, 1850–1950 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-521-81204-7 |page=39 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ppVxkjhwOKUC&pg=PP1 |via=Google Books |access-date=2020-11-15 |archive-date=2023-01-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115110444/https://books.google.com/books?id=ppVxkjhwOKUC&pg=PP1 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The LMU served the function of facilitating trade between different countries by setting the standards by which gold and silver currency could be minted and exchanged. In this manner a French trader could accept Italian lire for his goods with confidence that it could be converted back to a comparable amount of francs.

===Further joining members===

The original four nations were joined by [[Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg)|Greece]] on {{date|1867-4-10}},<ref name="Henry Parker Willis 1901 p.81">{{cite book |first=Henry Parker |last=Willis |title=A History of the Latin Monetary Union: A Study in International Monetary Action |place=Chicago |publisher=University of Chicago Press |date=1901 |page=81 |author-link=Henry Parker Willis |url=https://archive.org/details/historyoflatinmo00willuoft |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> which took advantage of a clause in the treaty that guaranteed admission of foreign states that agreed to abide by the treaty. [[Mid-nineteenth century Spain|Spain]] and [[Kingdom of Romania|Romania]] also considered joining. The discussions broke off unsuccessfully, but both countries nevertheless made an attempt to conform their currencies to the LMU standard.<ref name="Henry Parker Willis 1901 p.81" /> [[Austria-Hungary]] refused to join the LMU because it rejected bimetallism, but signed a separate monetary treaty with France on December 24, 1867 whereby both states agreed to receive into their treasuries one another's gold coins at specified rates.<ref>{{cite book |first=Henry Parker |last=Willis |title=A History of the Latin Monetary Union: A Study in International Monetary Action |place=Chicago |publisher=University of Chicago Press |date=1901 |page=83 |author-link=Henry Parker Willis |url=https://archive.org/details/historyoflatinmo00willuoft |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> Austria-Hungary thereafter minted some but not all of its gold coins on the LMU standard, including the 4 and 8 [[Austro-Hungarian florin|florin]], which matched the specifications of the French 10 and 20 francs. [[Principality of Serbia|Serbia]], the [[Papal States]], and [[San Marino]] were among other countries that applied to join the LMU but were not accepted.<ref name=Helleiner>{{cite book |author=Eric Helleiner |title=The Making of National Money: Territorial Currencies in Historical Perspective |location=Ithaca and London |publisher=Cornell University Press |year=2003}}</ref>{{rp|134}} With the tacit agreement of [[Napoleon III of France]], [[Giacomo Antonelli]], the administrator of the Papal Treasury, embarked from 1866 on an ambitious increase in [[Papal mint|silver coinage]] without the prescribed amount of precious metal, equivalent to Belgium's total.<ref>{{cite book |title= European Monetary Unification and the International Gold Standard (1865–1873) |last=Einaudi |first=Luca |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-19-924366-2 |page=104}}</ref><ref name="Polard"/> The papal coins quickly became debased and excessively circulated in other union states,{{efn|Not borne out by references in coin catalogues, e.g. Krause & Mishler, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 19th century, which shows LMU standard finenesses for Papal States silver and gold coinage with no debasement.}} to the profit of the [[Holy See]], but Swiss and French banks rejected papal coins and the [[Papal States]] were ejected from the Union in 1870, owing 20&nbsp;million lire.<ref name="Polard"/>

Other states later adopted the system without formally joining the treaty. [[Peru]] had adopted the franc system by law on July 31, 1863. The [[French colonial empire|colonies of France]] (including [[French Algeria|Algeria]]) came under the scope of the treaty in 1865. [[Colombia]] and [[Venezuela]] followed in 1871. The [[Grand Duchy of Finland]] adopted the system on August 9, 1877; Serbia on November 11, 1878; and [[Principality of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]] on May 17, 1880.<ref>{{cite book |first=Henry Parker |last=Willis |title=A History of the Latin Monetary Union: A Study in International Monetary Action |place=Chicago |publisher=University of Chicago Press |date=1901 |page=84 |author-link=Henry Parker Willis |url=https://archive.org/details/historyoflatinmo00willuoft |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> Coins struck for the Spanish territory of [[Puerto Rico]] in 1895 adhered to the standard, with one peso to five [[Spanish peseta|Spanish pesetas]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Yeoman |first=R. S. |title=A guide book of United States coins. Mega red |date=2022 |editor=Jeff Garrett |editor2=Kenneth E. Bressett |editor3=Q. David Bowers |isbn=978-0-7948-4966-5 |edition=8th |location=Pelham, AL |publisher=Whitman Publishing |pages=1318–1319 |oclc=1350926401}}</ref> In 1904, the [[Danish West Indies]] were also placed on this standard but did not join the Union itself. When [[Albania]] emerged from the [[Ottoman Empire]] as an independent nation in 1912, coins of the Latin Monetary Union from [[France]], [[Italy]], [[Greece]], and [[Austria-Hungary]] began to circulate in place of the [[Ottoman Lira|Ottoman lira]]. Albania did not however mint its own coins, or issue its own paper money until it adopted an independent monetary system in 1925.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.daggarjon.com/Currency_Albania.php |title=Daggar Jon's 'Coin and Currency' |access-date=2009-11-11 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150120043350/http://www.daggarjon.com/Currency_Albania.php |archive-date=2015-01-20 }}</ref>

==Issues==
[[Image:20_francs_belges.JPG|thumb|150px|Belgium, 20 gold francs (90% fine)]]
{{more citations|section|date=October 2022}}
===Bimetallism failure===
From the beginning, fluctuations in the relative value of gold and silver on the world market stressed the currency union. This is today recognized as an inevitable effect of a currency based on [[bimetallism]] when precious metal prices fluctuate. When the LMU was formed in 1865, silver was nearing the end of a period of high valuation compared to gold.<ref>{{cite book |first=Henry Parker |last=Willis |title=A History of the Latin Monetary Union: A Study in International Monetary Action |place=Chicago |publisher=University of Chicago Press |date=1901 |author-link=Henry Parker Willis |url=https://archive.org/details/historyoflatinmo00willuoft |via=Internet Archive |pages=85–86}}</ref>  In 1873 the value of silver dropped significantly, followed by a sharp increase in silver imports in the LMU countries, particularly in France and Belgium.<ref>{{cite book |first=Henry Parker |last=Willis |title=A History of the Latin Monetary Union: A Study in International Monetary Action |place=Chicago |publisher=University of Chicago Press |date=1901 |author-link=Henry Parker Willis |url=https://archive.org/details/historyoflatinmo00willuoft |via=Internet Archive |page=116}}</ref>  By 1873, the decreasing value of silver made it profitable to mint silver in exchange for gold at the Union's standard rate of {{nobreak|15.5 : 1}}. Indeed, in all of 1871 and 1872 the French mint had received just 5,000,000 francs of silver for conversion to coin,{{cn|date=October 2022}} but in 1873 alone received 154,000,000 francs.{{cn|date=October 2022}}<!-- grams? Francs weight? --> Fearing an influx of silver coinage, the member nations of the Union agreed in Paris on January 30, 1874, to limit the free conversion of silver temporarily. By 1878, with no recovery in the silver price in sight, minting of silver coinage was suspended absolutely.<ref>{{cite book|last=Laughlin|first=James Laurence|url=https://books.google.com/books/download/The_History_of_Bimetallism_in_the_United.pdf|title=The History of Bimetallism in the United States|publisher=D. Appleton and Co.|year=1898|isbn=978-1-297-44892-8|chapter=Chapter XI|author-link=James Laurence Laughlin|access-date=2020-11-21|archive-date=2022-01-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220120042937/https://books.google.com/books/download/The_History_of_Bimetallism_in_the_United.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> From 1873 onwards, the Union was on a ''de facto'' [[gold standard]].  The law still permitted payment in silver, but custom demanded and enforced payment in gold. The 5 franc silver pieces were "essentially upon the same footing as bank notes".<ref>{{cite book |first=Henry Parker |last=Willis |title=A History of the Latin Monetary Union: A Study in International Monetary Action |place=Chicago |publisher=University of Chicago Press |date=1901 |author-link=Henry Parker Willis |url=https://archive.org/details/historyoflatinmo00willuoft |via=Internet Archive |page=266}}</ref>

More importantly, because new discoveries and better refining techniques increased the supply of silver, the fixed LMU exchange rate eventually overvalued silver relative to gold. German traders, in particular, were known to bring silver to LMU countries, have it minted into coinage then exchanged those for gold coins at the discounted exchange rate. These destabilizing tactics eventually forced the LMU to convert to a pure gold standard for its currency in 1878.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://goldcoin.org/gold-coins/the-latin-monetary-union-1865/691/ |title=The Latin Monetary Union |access-date=2012-02-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140304012255/http://goldcoin.org/gold-coins/the-latin-monetary-union-1865/691/ |archive-date=2014-03-04 |website=goldcoin.org |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=http://fds.oup.com/www.oup.co.uk/pdf/0-19-924366-2.pdf |title=European Monetary Unification and the International Gold Standard (1865-1873) |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070808204706/http://fds.oup.com/www.oup.co.uk/pdf/0-19-924366-2.pdf |archive-date=2007-08-08 |df=dmy-all |chapter=5: Enthusiasm and Resistance to Union in Britain and Germany}}</ref>

===Debasement of the coinage <span class="anchor" id="World War I failure"></span>===
Some members began to debase their currency.{{when|date=October 2022}} and then [[Gresham's law|exchanged them for coins from other countries that had been minted correctly]], thus in effect forcing other members of the Union to do the same.{{cn|date=October 2022}} According to the BBC, Greece with its "chronically weak economy meant successive Greek governments responded by decreasing the amount of gold in their coins,{{efn|This assertion is not supported by the coinage record.  Greece issued no silver or gold coins for circulation after 1884 (silver resumed in 1910), and all extant coins from the period in question (prior to 1884 and in 1910/11) are of LMU standard.<ref>Krause & Mishler, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 19th-century & 20th-century volumes (annual publications)</ref>}} thereby debasing their currency in relation to those of other nations in the union and in violation of the original agreement". Greece was formally expelled from the Latin Monetary Union in 1908. It was readmitted in 1910, however.<ref name=BBC>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17140379 |date=2 March 2012 |title=A Point of View: Making friends the shared currency way |work=BBC News |access-date=26 February 2012 |archive-date=19 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181219234535/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17140379 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Paper money issues===
According to the ''[[Financial Times]]'', another major problem of the LMU was that it failed to outlaw the printing of paper money based on the bimetallic currency. [[Third French Republic|France]] and [[Italy]] exploited this weakness by printing banknotes to fund their own endeavours, effectively "forcing other members of the union to bear some of the cost of its fiscal extravagance by issuing notes backed by their currency".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.ft.com/content/80094624-e076-11e0-bd01-00144feabdc0 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/80094624-e076-11e0-bd01-00144feabdc0.html |archive-date=2022-12-10 |newspaper=[[Financial Times]] |title=Eurozone: A nightmare scenario - Latin Lessons |date=16 September 2011 |url-access=registration}}</ref> 

===Effect of the Great War <span class="anchor" id="Post-war use"></span>===
In 1922 the [[Latvian lat]] and in 1924 the [[Polish złoty]] adopted the LMU standard.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.sbc.org.pl/dlibra/publication/116686?language=pl | title=Tabele walutowe i towarowe 1914-1924. | date=1924 |last=Jaskólski |first=Józef |location=Lwów |publisher=Spółki Akcyjnej Wydawniczej}}</ref>

The political turbulence of the early twentieth century which culminated in the [[World War I|First World War]] brought the Latin Monetary Union to its final end in practice, even though it continued ''[[de jure]]'' until 1927, when it came to a formal end.{{cn|date=October 2022}}

The last coins made according to the standards (i.e., diameter, weight and silver fineness) of the Union were the Swiss half, one-franc, and two-franc pieces of 1967.<ref>Krause & Mishler, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 20th century.</ref>{{efn|The cupro-nickel {{frac|1|2}}, 1 and 2-franc coins made since 1968 were also still of LMU-standard weight and diameter, though no longer silver.}} However, Austria still mints gold 4 and 8 [[Austro-Hungarian florin|florin]] gold coins to the LMU specifications for collectors and investors, and modern gold rounds to LMU standards are also commercially minted.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.echtgeld.ch/en/gold.php |title=Buy Swiss Gold from Echtgeld AG |website=www.echtgeld.ch |access-date=2016-08-27 |df=dmy-all |archive-date=2016-08-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160828235418/http://www.echtgeld.ch/en/gold.php |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Impact==
A 2018 study in the ''[[European Review of Economic History]]'' found that the LMU had no significant effects on trade, except during the period 1865–1874.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Timini|first=Jacopo|title=Currency unions and heterogeneous trade effects: the case of the Latin Monetary Union|journal=European Review of Economic History|volume=22|issue=3|pages=322–348|doi=10.1093/ereh/hex027|year=2018|url=https://repositorio.bde.es/bitstream/123456789/7288/1/dt1739e.pdf}}</ref>

The Latin Monetary Union inspired the [[Scandinavian Monetary Union]], established in 1873.<ref name="BBC" />

==Coins==
Below are examples of coins of 5 units silver coins:
{{Coin image box 2 singles|position=left
| header = 5 [[Modern drachma|Greek drachma]]e 1876
| image_left = Image:5dracme1874front.jpg
| image_right= Image:5dracme1874back.jpg
| caption_left = [[George I of Greece]]
| caption_right = [[Coat of arms of Greece]]
| width_left = 140
| width_right = 140
| margin = 0
}}
{{Coin image box 2 singles|position=left|clear=none
| header = 5 [[Belgian franc]]s 1868
| image_left = Image:5francleopoldii1868front.jpg
| image_right= Image:5francleopoldii1868back.jpg
| caption_left = [[Leopold II of Belgium]]
| caption_right = [[Coat of arms of Belgium]]
| width_left = 140
| width_right = 140
| margin = 0
}}
{{Coin image box 2 singles|position=left
| header =  5 [[French franc]]s 1868
| image_left = Image:5francnapoleoniii1868front.jpg
| image_right= Image:5francnapoleoniii1868back.jpg
| caption_left = [[Napoleon III of France]]
| caption_right = [[Coat of arms of France|Coat of arms]] of the [[Second French Empire|Second Empire]]
| width_left = 140
| width_right = 140
| margin = 0
}}
{{Coin image box 2 singles|position=left|clear=none
| header = 5 [[Italian lira|Italian lire]] 1874
| image_left = Image:5lirevittorioemanueleii1874front.jpg
| image_right= Image:5lirevittorioemanueleii1874back.jpg
| caption_left = [[Victor Emmanuel II of Italy]]
| caption_right = Coat of arms of the [[House of Savoy]]
| width_left = 140
| width_right = 140
| margin = 0
}}
{{Coin image box 2 singles|position=left
| header =  5 [[Spanish peseta]]s 1885
| image_left = Image:Anverso5pts.PNG
| image_right= Image:Reverso5pts.PNG
| caption_left = [[Alfonso XII of Spain]]
| caption_right = [[Coat of arms of Spain]]
| width_left = 140
| width_right = 140
| margin = 0
}}
{{Coin image box 2 singles|position=left|clear=none
| header =  5 [[Venezuelan bolívar]]es 1912
| image_left = Image:Anverso5b.PNG
| image_right= Image:Reverso5b.PNG
| caption_left = [[Simón Bolívar]]
| caption_right = [[Coat of arms of Venezuela]]
| width_left = 140
| width_right = 140
| margin = 0
}}
{{Coin image box 1 double|position=left
| header =  5 [[Swiss Franc]]s 1889
| image = Image:5chf1889.png
| caption_left = [[Coat of arms of Switzerland]]
| caption_right = [[Libertas]]
| width = 280
| margin = 0
}}
{{Coin image box 1 double|position=left|clear=none
| header =  5 [[Romanian Leu|Romanian lei]] 1883
| image = Image:1883 5lei Romania.jpg
| caption_left = [[Carol I of Romania]]
| caption_right = [[Coat of arms of Romania]]
| width = 280
| margin = 0
}}{{clear left}}

==See also==
* [[Bimetallism]]
* [[Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union]]
* [[Euro]]
* [[Latin Union]]
* [[Spanish peseta]]
* [[Stella (United States coin)]]
* [[Vreneli]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite journal |first1=Kee-Hong |last1=Bae |first2=Warren |last2=Bailey |title=The Latin Monetary Union: Some Evidence on Europe's Failed Common Currency |journal=Review of Development Finance |volume=1 |issue=2 |year=2011 |pages=131–149 |doi=10.1016/j.rdf.2011.03.001 |doi-access=free }}
*{{cite journal |last=Flandreau |first=Marc |title=The Economics and Politics of Monetary Unions: A Reassessment of the Latin Monetary Union, 1865–71 |journal=[[Financial History Review]] |volume=7 |issue=1 |year=2000 |pages=25–44 |doi= 10.1017/s0968565000000020|s2cid=154714928 }}
*{{cite book |last=Redish |first=Angela |chapter=The Latin Monetary Union and the Emergence of the International Gold Standard |pages=68–85 |editor-first=Michael D. |editor-last=Bordo |editor2-first=Forrest |editor2-last=Capie |title=Monetary Regimes in Transition |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=New York |year=1993 |isbn=978-0-521-41906-2 }}
*{{cite journal |first1=Nikolay  |last1=Nenovsky |first2=Vaslin|last2=Jacques-Marie |title=Shadowing the Latin Monetary Union: Monetary regimes and interest rates in the Balkan periphery (1867-1912) |journal=The Journal of European Economic History |volume=49 |issue= 2 |year=2020 |pages=71–114 |issn=2499-8281 }}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Latin Monetary Union}}
* [http://digilander.libero.it/maggioref/latin%20monetary%20union.html Grand-dad of today's Euro: The Latin Monetary Union (1865-1927)]
* [http://www.unionlatine.com Coins of the Latin Monetary Union: 1865 - 1926]

{{Authority control}}
{{Portal bar|Numismatics}}
[[Category:Economic history of France]]
[[Category:Economic history of Greece]]
[[Category:Economic history of the Holy See]]
[[Category:Economic history of Italy]]
[[Category:Economic history of Romania]]
[[Category:Economic history of Serbia]]
[[Category:Economic history of Spain]]
[[Category:Economic history of Switzerland]]
[[Category:19th century in economic history]]
[[Category:Metallism]]
[[Category:Currency unions]]
[[Category:Numismatics]]
[[Category:Economic history of Belgium]]