Word: francs
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...French used to say, pocketing the 5-centime change on their glass of Pernod. But this ancient expression of French thrift became meaningless when, with the fall of the franc that began with World War I, the sou gradually descended to its present poker-chip worthlessness of one-hundredth of an American cent...
...Gaulle's first major steps towards putting France's house in order last December was stabilizing the franc at 493.7 to the dollar through a devaluation of 17.5%. The stabilization worked, but the low esteem of the franc as a unit of foreign exchange still rankled. This week the French Treasury put into effect Operation Le Franc Lourd (the heavy franc): by striking two zeros off all existing currency, the outside-France value of the franc jumped 100 times, to nearly five-to-the-dollar. The franc thus again became a respectable neighbor of the British shilling...
Under the old system, business transactions and-government appropriations were made in astronomical figures (current French budget in old francs: 6,189,000,000,000). But the changeover poses new problems. Despite plenty of warnings, some Frenchmen are sure to write checks after July 15, the changeover day, without marking N.F. (New Francs) in front of the figures. Shopkeepers may try to raise prices under the guise of rounding off the price of an article that cost 450 old francs to a simple five francs in the new currency. To prevent this, the government for a time is requiring...
...that France and Germany are so interlocked by trade agreements and political alliance, the Saar and the other "lost provinces" have ceased to be war-making issues. Politically, the Saar was reunited with West Germany in 1957. and in the further flowering of European friendship it was inevitable that economic integration, scheduled for 1960, should be advanced to an earlier date. For weeks the talk in the Saar's beerhalls has been of Der Tag X-the day the customs barriers between the Saar and Germany would be pulled down and moved west to the Saar's French...
...that took refuge in their present inaccessible home back in the Middle Ages, they do not allow their wives to unveil even for the dentist. But they have been shrewd in jumping aboard the oil bandwagon, and French officials estimate that there are already at least a score of franc billionaires among the Mozabites. "France never has and never will tamper with your faith and customs," Soustelle told the bearded oldsters. And to a group of young oil truckers he said: "But now I bring you a message from De Gaulle. That message is that, united in our effort...