Comorian franc
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Website | www |
Mint | Monnaie de Paris |
Website | www |
Valuation | |
Inflation | 6.3% |
Source | The World Factbook, 2012 est. |
Pegged with | euro = 491.96775 francs |
The franc (French: franc comorien;
. It is nominally subdivided into 100 centimes, although no centime denominations have ever been issued.History
The
On 1 July 1925, the French government formed an agreement with the
When the Comoros became a separate French territory in 1945, the name of the issuing bank was changed to the
In 1950, the French government took over majority ownership of the Banque de Madagascar et des Comores. On 1 January 1960, the French franc was redenominated, with 100 old francs becoming 1 new franc. (Décret n°59-1450 du 22 décembre 1959) The new exchange rate was 1 Madagascar-Comores CFA franc = 0.02 French francs (50 Madagascar-Comores CFA francs = 1 French franc).
On 26 June 1960, Madagascar gained independence from France, and the
On 23 November 1979, the government of Comoros signed the Accord de coopération monétaire entre la République Française et la République fédérale islamique des Comores, a monetary cooperation agreement with France, making Comoros part of the franc zone (but not part of the
The stability of the Comorian franc is founded on tight monetary and credit discipline, underpinned by two specific safeguard measures: the central bank is required to maintain 20% foreign-exchange cover of its sight liabilities, and the government is not allowed to draw more than 20% of the previous year's budget receipts from their central bank funds. The
Until 1994, the Comorian franc was pegged to the
European Monetary Union
In 1998 in anticipation of European Monetary Union, the Council of the European Union addressed the monetary agreements France has with the CFA Zone and Comoros and ruled that:
- the agreements are unlikely to have any material effect on the Euro zone
- in their present forms and states of implementation, the agreements are unlikely to present any obstacle to a smooth functioning of economic and monetary union
- nothing in the agreements can be construed as implying an obligation for the European Central Bank (ECB) or any national central bank to support the convertibility of the CFA and Comorian francs
- modifications to the existing agreements will not lead to any obligations for the European Central or any national central bank
- the French Treasury will guarantee the free convertibility at a fixed parity between the euro and the CFA and Comorian francs
- the competent French authorities shall keep the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the Economic and Financial Committee informed about the implementation of the agreements and inform the Committee prior to changes of the parity between the euro and the CFA and Comorian francs
- any change to the nature or scope of the agreements would require Council approval on the basis of a Commission recommendation and ECB consultation
Central Bank
The
Coins
In 1890, Sultan Said Ali of Bambao, Ngazidja issued bronze 5 and 10 centimes and silver 5 francs. The coins were struck in Paris to the same specifications as the corresponding French coins. The three coins ceased to be valid in theory in 1912 but the lower two denominations were still turning up in general circulation as late as 1930. The two bronze coins are frequently used for
In the 1920s, a shortage of coins led to the issuance of private tokens by the principal colonial company on
In 1964, coins were introduced specifically for use in the Comoros, replacing the Madagascar coins previously in use. Aluminium 1 FC, 2 FC, and 5 FC and aluminium-bronze 10 FC and 20 FC coins were issued. In 1975, nickel 50 francs were introduced, followed by nickel 100 FC in 1977 and nickel 25 FC in 1981. Nickel-plated-steel replaced nickel after 1990. The
Until 1975, only French appeared on Comorian coins. Since then,
Coins of the Comorian franc | |||||
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Obverse | Reverse | Denomination | Weight (grams) | Diameter | Composition |
1 franc | 23 mm | aluminum | |||
2 francs | 2.2 | 27 mm | aluminum | ||
5 francs | 3.75 | 31 mm | aluminum | ||
10 francs | 22 mm | aluminum bronze
| |||
25 francs | 3.9 | 20 mm | nickel | ||
50 francs | 6 | 24 mm | nickel | ||
100 francs | 10 | 28 mm | nickel-plated steel |
General circulation Comorian coins have always been minted by the Monnaie de Paris. This is indicated by the cornucopia mint mark on the coins, visible to the left of the date, although this was omitted from the 1994 50 FC piece at the request of the Comorian government. The coins are manufactured at their facility in Pessac, Gironde.
The 5 FC coin is nicknamed reali, referring to the Spanish real; the 2 FC coin is nicknamed nusu, meaning "half", and the 1 FC coin "robo", meaning "quarter". The 1 FC, 2 FC, 5 FC and 10 FC coins are rarely used because of their low value. The 25 FC and 100 FC coins contain the phrase "Augmentons la production alimentaire" (Let's increase food production). The 5 FC coin contains the phrase "Conférence Mondiale sur les Pêches" (World Conference on Fishing). Both of these phrases are references to programs by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. Comoros is one of 114 countries that have issued FAO coins.[citation needed]
Banknotes
The first Comorian paper money was issued in 1920. It consisted of an emergency issue of Madagascar postage stamps fixed to card to allow them to circulate as money. Denominations of 50 centimes and 1 franc were issued.
Loi ordinaire 62-873 du 31 juillet 1962, Article 12, allowed the Banque de Madagascar et des Comores to continue issuing notes in Comoros after Madagascar began issuing its own currency but, beginning 1 April 1962, they had "COMORES" overstamped on them. Denominations of 50 FC, 100 FC, 500 FC, 1,000 FC and 5,000 FC were issued. As per Décret 64-1038 du 07 octobre 1964, banknotes without the overstamp ceased to be legal tender on 31 December 1964.
The overstamped notes circulated until 1976, when 500 FC, 1,000 FC and 5,000 FC were introduced by the
Comorian
Exchange rates
Current KMF exchange rates | |
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From Google Finance: | AUD CAD CHF CNY EUR GBP HKD JPY USD EUR JPY USD |
From Yahoo! Finance: | AUD CAD CHF CNY EUR GBP HKD JPY USD EUR JPY USD |
From XE.com: | AUD CAD CHF CNY EUR GBP HKD JPY USD EUR JPY USD |
From OANDA: | AUD CAD CHF CNY EUR GBP HKD JPY USD EUR JPY USD |
See also
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References
- ^ "Banque Centrale des Comores – Détail Actualités". banque-comores.km. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
- ^ Linzmayer, Owen (2012). "Comoros". The Banknote Book. San Francisco, CA: BanknoteNews.com.
- Abal Anrabe Abdou Chacourou (2003). Franc comorien (in French). Editions L'Harmattan. ISBN 2-7475-4843-0
- Krause, Chester L.; Clifford Mishler (1991). ISBN 0873411501.
- Pick, Albert (1994). ISBN 0-87341-207-9.
External links
- (in French) Banque Centrale des Comores official site
- (in French) Text of the 1979 Comorian Agreement of Monetary Cooperation Archived 23 April 2005 at the Library of Congress Web Archives at Banque de France
- Council Decision of 23 November 1998 concerning exchange rate matters relating to the CFA Franc and the Comorian Franc
- Franc zone information at Banque de France Archived 15 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- (in French) Franc zone information at Banque de France Archived 22 April 2005 at the Library of Congress Web Archives (in French, but more extensive than the English version)
- (in French) Central Bank of Madagascar
- Images of Comorian banknotes at Islamic Banknotes
- Numismatics of Comoros
- Numismatics of Comoros by Dr Iain Walker
- Coins of Comoros
- Comoros at Ben's FAO Coins collection
- (in French) La fabrication des monnaies utilisées par les Comoriens
- (in French) "Les Monnaies à Madagascar", Louis Molet
- A table of conversion rates between the euro and the Comorian franc