In 1865, France, Belgium, Italy and Switzerland signed the agreement of the Latin Monetary Union. The basis of the Latin Monetary Union was the standardization of fineness, weight and size of the respective coins. The silver standard was considered the basis of currency until 1871. Afterwards, it was replaced by the gold standard. More and more nations, including Spain, Greece, Austria and some non-European nations, slowly joined the Latin Monetary Union. This collection includes four historic silver coins from countries of the Latin Monetary Union. They originate from Belgium, France, Italy, and Spain.
Europe’s first common currency 4 silver coins With map and background information