The Latin Monetary Union (LMU) was a 19th century attempt to unify several European currencies into a single currency that could be used in all the member states, at a time when most national currencies were still made out of gold and silver. The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar European integration is the process of political legal economic (and in some cases social and cultural integration of European states including some states that are partly in Europe A currency is a unit of exchange, facilitating the transfer of Goods and/or services It is one form of Money, where money is In economics a monetary union is a situation where several countries have agreed to share a single currency (also known as a unitary or common currency Gold (ˈɡoʊld is a Chemical element with the symbol Au (from its Latin name aurum) and Atomic number 79 Silver (ˈsɪlvɚ is a Chemical element with the symbol " Ag " (argentum from the Ancient Greek: ἀργήντος - argēntos gen It was established in 1865 and disbanded in 1927. Year 1865 ( MDCCCLXV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Year 1927 ( MCMXXVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

Contents 1 History 2 Non-members 2.1 United Kingdom 2.2 United States 3 Coins 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

History

By a convention dated 23 December 1865, ^[1] France, Belgium, Italy, and Switzerland formed the union and agreed to change their national currencies to a standard of 4. Events 962 - Byzantine-Arab Wars: Under the future Emperor Nicephorus Phocas, Byzantine troops stormed the city Year 1865 ( MDCCCLXV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The Kingdom of Belgium is a Country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters as well as those Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation 5 grams of silver or 0. For other uses of the words gram or gramme see Gram (disambiguation. 290322 grams of gold (a ratio of 15. A ratio is an expression which compares quantities relative to each other 5 to 1) and make them freely interchangeable. The agreement came into force on 1 August 1866. Events 30 BC - Octavian (later known as Augustus enters Alexandria, Egypt, bringing it under the control of the Roman Year 1866 ( MDCCCLXVI) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common ^[2] They were joined later by Spain and Greece in 1868, and Romania, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Venezuela, Serbia, Montenegro, San Marino and the Papal States in 1889. Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία Year 1868 ( MDCCCLXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap Romania ( dated: Rumania, Roumania The state of Bulgaria (България transliterated bg-Latn ''Balgaria'' The country preserves the traditions (in ethnic name language and alphabet of the First Bulgarian Venezuela (ˌvɛnəˈzweɪlə) officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (Spanish República Bolivariana de Venezuela) is a country on the Serbia (Србија Srbija) officially the Republic of Serbia (Република Србија Republika Srbija) is a Landlocked Country Montenegro ( British English) Montenegrin / Serbian: PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE THE LANGUAGES WITHOUT CONSENSUS ON THE TALK PAGE! The Most Serene Republic of San Marino (Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino is a country in the Apennine Mountains. The Papal States, State(s of the Church or Pontifical States (in Italian Stato Ecclesiastico, Stato della Chiesa, Stati della Chiesa Year 1889 ( MDCCCLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common In 1904 the Danish West Indies were also placed on this standard, but did not join the LMU itself. Year 1904 ( MCMIV) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year starting on The Danish West Indies ( Danish: Dansk Vestindien or De dansk-vestindiske øer) or "Danish Antilles" were a colony of Denmark-Norway

Giacomo Cardinal Antonelli, the administrator of the Papal Treasury, with the tacit agreement of Napoleon III of France, embarked on an ambitious increase in silver coinage without the prescribed amount of metal. Giacomo Cardinal Antonelli ( April 2, 1806 &ndash November 6, 1876) was an Italian Cardinal deacon. Napoléon III, also known as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte (full name Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte) (20 April 1808 9 January 1873 was the first President Zecca, Italian for " mint " (derived from the Arabic for " die " may refer to The historical ^[3] The papal coins quickly became debased and excessively circulated in other union states, to the profit of the Holy See, but eventually Swiss and French banks rejected papal coins and the Papal States were ejected from the Union. ^[2]

By 1873, the decreasing value of silver made it profitable to mint silver in exchange for gold at the union's standard rate of 15. 5 ounces to 1. Indeed, in all of 1871 and 1872 the French mint had received 5,000,000 francs of silver for conversion to coin, whereas in 1873 alone 154,000,000 francs were received. 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 on a temporary basis. Events 1648 - Eighty Years' War: The Treaty of Münster is signed ending the conflict between the Netherlands and Spain Year 1874 ( MDCCCLXXIV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common By 1878, with no recovery in the silver price in sight, minting of silver coinage was suspended absolutely. ^[4] From 1873 onwards, the union was on a de facto gold standard. The gold standard is a monetary system in which a region's common media of exchange are paper notes that are normally freely convertible into pre-set fixed quantities of Gold

Due to the fluctuations of gold and silver and the political turbulences of the early 20th century, the monetary union faded away in the 1920s though was not until 1927 that the union came to a formal end. The twentieth century of the Common Era began on The 1920s is sometimes referred to as the " Jazz Age " or the " Roaring Twenties " when speaking about the United States and Canada

The last coins made according to the LMU standards are the Swiss 50 Cts, 1 Fr. & 2 Fr. in 1967.

Non-members

United Kingdom

An interesting parallel can be seen between the discussions in the United Kingdom concerning the possibility of Britain joining the Latin Monetary Union,^[5] and the current discussions concerning British membership of the euro. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Please update other articles as well to avoid contradiction within Wikipedia e

The proposal involved reducing the amount of gold in one pound sterling by less than 1% to make one pound equivalent to 25 Francs and also decimalising the currency. The Pound Sterling ( symbol £; ISO code: GBP) subdivided into 100 pence (singular penny) is the Currency In the management of currencies, decimalisation (or decimalization) is the process of converting from traditional denominations to a " Decimal "

United States

The United States made several steps that could have prepared the country for joining the Latin Monetary Union, but never did so. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Its gold coinage was already within four percent of the LMU standard at the rate of 5 LMU francs per U. The eagle was a base-unit of denomination issued only for Gold coinage by the United States Mint. S. dollar. The Mint Act of 1873 increased the mass of the dime, quarter dollar, and half dollar slightly to 25 grams of . The Fourth Coinage Act was enacted by the United States Congress in 1873 and embraced the Gold standard and de-monetized Silver. 900 fine silver per dollar, putting them on the LMU standard, a standard that was maintained until the minting of U. S. silver coins was halted in 1965. Year 1965 ( MCMLXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. 1875 saw the introduction of the 20¢ piece which contained 5 grams of . Year 1875 ( MDCCCLXXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common 900 fine silver, the same standards as one franc. In addition, the United States Mint produced pattern coins called Stellas in 1879 and 1880 that would be worth 4 U.S. dollars or 20 French francs. The United States Mint primarily produces circulating coinage for the United States to conduct its Trade and Commerce. A pattern coin is a Coin produced for the purpose of evaluating a proposed coin design but which was not approved for general circulation Year 1879 ( MDCCCLXXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Year 1880 ( MDCCCLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been The franc (represented by the franc sign ₣ or more commonly just F) is a former Currency of France. However, as close as it came, the United States never joined, decided not to resize its gold coins, repealed the legislation authorizing the 20¢ piece after only three years, and kept its large silver dollar which was minted using a 16 to 1 ratio for silver to gold.

Coins

Belows are examples of coins of 5 units.

5 Greek drachmae 1876 George I of Greece Coat of arms of Greece	5 Belgian francs 1868 Leopold II of Belgium Coat of arms of Belgium
5 French francs 1868 Napoleon III of France Coat of arms of the Second Empire	5 Italian lire 1874 Victor Emmanuel II of Italy Coat of arms of the House of Savoy

See also

• Peseta
• Venezuelan bolívar
• First World War
• Latin Union
• European Economic and Monetary Union
• Euro
• Bimetallism
• currency union

References

External links

• Grand-dad of today's Euro: The Latin Monetary Union (1865-1927)
• Coins of the Latin Monetary Union: 1865 - 1926

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