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.jpg) La Banque Royale: 100 livres Tournois (1720) | |
| Unit | |
|---|---|
| Unit | livre |
| Symbol | ₶ |
| Denominations | |
| Subunit | |
| 1⁄20 | sous sol until 1714 |
| 1⁄240 | denier |
| Demographics | |
| User(s) | France |
| This infobox shows the latest status before this currency was rendered obsolete. | |
Thelivre tournois (French pronunciation:[livʁtuʁnwa];lit. 'Tourspound'; abbreviation:₶ or£[1]) was one of numerous currencies used inmedieval France,[2] and aunit of account (i.e., a monetary unit used in accounting) used inearly modern France.
The 1262 monetary reform established thelivre tournois as 20sous tournois, or 80.88grams offine silver. Thefranc à cheval was a gold coin of onelivre tournois minted in large numbers from 1360.In 1549, thelivre tournois was decreed a unit of account, and in 1667 it officially replaced thelivre parisis.[3] In 1720, thelivre tournois was redefined as 0.31 grams of pure gold, and in 1726, in a devaluation underLouis XV, as 4.50516 grams of fine silver.It was the basis of the revolutionaryFrench franc of 1795, defined as 4.5 grams of fine silver exactly.
| John II of France | |
|---|---|
 | |
| John, armored, on horseback left, holding sword. Around IOHANNES DEI GRATIA – FRANCORV REX | Cross fleurée; lis in quarters; all within tressure; trefoils in angles; around + XP'C* VInCIT* XP'C* REGNAT* XP'C* INPERAT |
| Franc à cheval, 1360 | |
| Charles V of France | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Charles standing facing, holding sword, in Gothic arch flanked by lis; KAROLVS x DI x GR FRANCOR x REX ; there is an R at end of legend (La Rochelle mint) | Ornate cross with trefoils at ends; lis and crowns in quarters; all within tressure; lis in angles. XPC* VINCIT x XRC REGNAT XRC* IMPERAT |
| Franc à pied | |
In France, thelivre was worth 240deniers (the "Tours penny"). These deniers were first minted by theabbey of Saint Martin, in theprovince ofTouraine. Soon afterPhilip II of France seized the counties ofAnjou andTouraine in 1203 and standardized the use of thelivre tournois there, thelivre tournois began to supersede thelivre parisis (Paris pound) which had been up to that point the official currency of theCapetian dynasty.
Thelivre tournois was, in common with the originallivre of Charlemagne, divided into 20sols (sous after 1715), each of which was divided into 12deniers.[4]
Between 1360 and 1641, coins worth onelivre tournois were minted, known asfrancs (the name coming from the inscriptionJohannes Dei Gratia Francorum Rex, [Jean, by the grace of God, King of the French]).[citation needed] Other francs were minted underCharles V,Henry III andHenry IV. The use of the name "franc" became a synonym forlivre tournois in accounting.
The first French paper money, issued between 1701 and 1720, was denominated inlivre tournois (see "Standard Catalog of World Paper Money", Albert Pick). This was the last time the name was used officially, as later notes and coins were denominated simply inlivres, thelivre parisis having finally been abolished in 1667.[citation needed]
With many forms of domestic and international money (with different weights, purities and quality) circulating throughout Europe in the late Middle Ages and the early modern period, the use of anaccounting currency became a financial necessity. In the world of international banking of the 13th century, it was theflorin andducat that were often used. In France, thelivre tournois and the currency system based on it became a standard monetary unit of accounting and continued to be used even when thelivre tournois ceased to exist as an actual coin. For example, theLouisiana Purchase treaty of 1803 specified the relative ratios of thefranc,dollar andlivre tournois.
The official use of thelivre tournois accounting unit in all contracts in France was legislated in 1549, but it had been one of the standard units of accounting in France since the 13th century. In 1577 thelivre tournois accounting unit was officially abolished and accountants switched to theécu, which was at that time the major French gold coin in actual circulation, but in 1602 thelivre tournois accounting unit was brought back.[4] (A monetary unit of accounting based on thelivre parisis continued to be used for minor uses in and around Paris and was not officially abolished until 1667 byLouis XIV).
Since coins in Europe in the Middle Ages and the early modern period (the Frenchécu,Louis,teston d'argent,denier, double,franc; the Spanishdoubloon,pistole,real; the Italianflorin,ducat orsequin; the German and Austrianthaler; theDutch gulden, etc.) did not have any indication of their value, their official value was determined by royal edicts. In cases of financial need, French kings could use the official value forcurrency devaluation. This could be done in two ways: (1) the amount of precious metal in a newly minted French coin could be reduced while nevertheless maintaining the old value inlivre tournois or (2) the official value of a domestic or foreign coin in circulation could be increased. By reversing these techniques, currencies could be reinforced.
For example:
Royal finance officers faced many difficulties. In addition to currency speculation, forgery and theintentional shaving of precious metal from coins (which was harshly punished), they had the difficult problem of setting values for gold, silver, copper andbillon coins, responding to the often large influx of foreign coin and the appearance of inferior foreign coins of intentionally similar design. For more on these issues, seeMonetary policy andGresham's law.
| ₶ | |
|---|---|
livre tournois | |
| In Unicode | U+20B6 ₶LIVRE TOURNOIS SIGN |
A glyph for thelivre tournois was added to Unicode 5.2, in theCurrency Symbols block at code point U+20B6.[5]
