Saar franc

The franc () was the currency of the Saar Protectorate and, later, the state of Saarland in West Germany between 20 November 1947 and 6 July 1959. It was at par with the French franc, and French coins and banknotes circulated alongside local issues.

History

In 1947, banknotes were issued for Saar denominated in Mark, followed by coins denominated in Franken, dated 1954 and 1955.

After a referendum about the future status of the region, Saarland was incorporated into the Federal Republic of Germany as a Bundesland on 1 January 1957. The economic integration into Germany was completed with the withdrawal of all Saar-Franken. On June 29, 1959 the federal ordinance "Verordnung zur Einführung der Deutschen Mark im Saarland" stipulated that - with effect of 6 July (§ 1) - all debts, credits, deposits, wages, rents, fees, interest servicing, or amortisation payments, and other obligations, as well as cash reserves and prices denominated in Francs were to be converted at the rate of 100 Francs = 0.8507 Deutsche Mark (§ 2).The Federal Republic of Germany fixed that rate and converted older obligations denominated in Saar francs at this rate into Deutsche Mark. Cf. the federal act on compensations "Bundesgesetz zur Einführung des Bundesgesetzes zur Regelung der rückerstattungsrechtlichen Geldverbindlichkeiten des Deutschen Reichs und gleichgestellter Rechtsträger...
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