The gold coins of 20 fr. and 40 fr., struck under the government of Bonaparte, were called napoleons and double-napoleons, and such is the force of habit, that these, as well as pieces of the same value struck since 1814, continue to be so called.
They are also designated pièces de vingt francs and pièces de quarante francs. The silver coins of 5 francs each are frequently called pièces de cent sous; a piece of 2 francs is called pièce de quarante sous, and so on.
The only notes issued by the Bank of France are of 500 fr. and 1,000 fr. These are changeable into silver at the Bank, without discount, except the charge of 3 sous for the bag which contains the change; or, at a premium, into silver or gold, at the different money changers.
The French money, being divided into decimal parts, in reckoning, instead of 25 sous it is said 1 fr. 25 centimes, instead of 30 sous, 1 fr 50 cent., and so on. When the course of exchange is at par between France and England, 25 fr. are considered equal to the pound sterling.
The gold as well as silver coins of France contain 1—10th. alloy.
Since the English sovereign contains of pure gold 7.318444035 grammes, and the gold coin of 20 fr. contains of pure gold 5.806449 grammes, therefore the intrinsic value of the sovereign, in French money, is 25.2079 fr., or 25 fr. 20 c. Hence the respective intrinsic value of the following coins will be:
| Guinea | 26 | fr. | 47 | c. | Napoléon | 15 | s. | 10¼ | d. | .9 |
| Crown | 5 | fr. | 80 | c. | Franc | 9 | d. | 05 | ||
| Shilling | 1 | fr. | 16 | c. | ||||||
The rate of exchange, at Paris and the principal towns of France, is commonly 25 fr. 50 c. for L. 1 sterling: but it varies, and especially in the smaller towns, from 25 fr. to 25 fr. 75 c. If we assume it to be 25 fr. to L. 1 sterling, we have an easy proportion, by which we may find the value of the money of either country in the money of the other. Thus since 25 fr. are equal to 20 shillings, 5 francs are equal to 4 shillings, and therefore, any number of francs are equal to 4-5ths of the same number of shillings; and any number of shillings are equal to 5-4ths of the same number of francs. Thus 100 fr. will equal 80 shillings, or L. 4; and L. 5, or 100 shillings, will equal 125 fr. Hence.
| Sovereign | 25 | fr. | Napoléon | 16 | s. | 0 | d. | ||||
| Crown | 6 | fr. | 25 | c. | Franc | 9 | d. | ¾ | nearly | ||
| Shilling | 1 | fr. | 25 | c. | Sou | ½ | nearly. | ||||
| Penny | 10 | c. nearly. | or | ¼ | 9. |
This rule will be found very useful for all small sums and the common purposes of life.