The franc was the currency of

French Cameroun French Cameroon or French Cameroons (french: link=no, Cameroun) was a French mandate territory in Central Africa. It now forms part of the independent country of Cameroon. History Beginnings The area of present-day Cameroon came under Germ ...

. It was subdivided into 100

centime Centime (from la, centesimus) is French for " cent", and is used in English as the name of the fraction currency in several Francophone countries (including Switzerland, Algeria, Belgium, Morocco and France). In France, the usage of ''centim ...

s and was equal in value to the

French franc The franc (, ; sign: F or Fr), also commonly distinguished as the (FF), was a currency of France. Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amount of money. It w ...

History

Following the occupation of eastern

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

by French forces, the French franc was introduced as currency to replace the

German mark The Deutsche Mark (; English: ''German mark''), abbreviated "DM" or "D-Mark" (), was the official currency of West Germany from 1948 until 1990 and later the unified Germany from 1990 until the adoption of the euro in 2002. In English, it was ...

. This was augmented from 1922 by local issues of paper money and by local coins from 1924. In 1958, the coins of

French Equatorial Africa French Equatorial Africa (french: link=no, Afrique-Équatoriale française), or the AEF, was the federation of French colonial possessions in Equatorial Africa, extending northwards from the Congo River into the Sahel, and comprising what are ...

were issued with the name "Cameroun" added to the legend. Since then, the

CFA franc The CFA franc (french: franc CFA, , Franc of the Financial Community of Africa, originally Franc of the French Colonies in Africa, or colloquially ; abbreviation: F.CFA) is the name of two currencies, the West African CFA franc, used in eight Wes ...

of the Equatorial, then Central African States has circulated, first in French Cameroun, then the whole of Cameroon following unification with the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Southern Cameroons The Southern Cameroons was the southern part of the British Empire, British League of Nations mandate territory of the British Cameroons in West Africa. Since 1961, it has been part of the Republic of Cameroon, where it makes up the Northwest Re ...

Coins

In 1924, aluminium-bronze 50 centimes, 1 and 2 francs coins were introduced and were struck until 1926. These were the only coins issued until 1943, when the

Free French Free France (french: France Libre) was a political entity that claimed to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third Republic. Led by French general , Free France was established as a government-in-exile ...

issued bronze 50 centimes and 1 franc. Aluminium 1 and 2 francs were issued in 1948. (This needs correcting. Camerounian 25 Franc coins exist) Since the introduction of the

, Cameroon has issued 50 francs in 1960, 100 francs since 1966 and 500 francs since 1985.

Banknotes

In 1922, 50 centimes and 1 franc notes were issued by the government. These were the only notes issued specifically for French Cameroun. In 1961, the Central Bank issued notes in denominations of 1000 and 5000 francs, followed in 1962 by 100, 500 and 10,000 francs. From 1974, the

Bank of the Central African States The Bank of Central African States (french: Banque des États de l'Afrique Centrale, BEAC) is a central bank that serves six central African countries which form the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa: *Cameroon *Central African ...

has issued notes in the name of Cameroon.

References

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External links

{{franc, state=collapsed Modern obsolete currencies French Cameroon Currencies of Cameroon