Banque Générale Currency & Banknote Values

The Banque Générale series of France in the World Currency contains 53 distinct entries.

The Kingdom of France’s first experiment with a central bank was the Banque Générale (General Bank, GEN), set up by John Law, a Scottish economist, at the behest of the Duke of Orléans after the death of King Louis XIV. Law received the bank’s 20-year charter on 2 May 1716 and its stock consisted of 1,200 shares valued at 5,000 livres each (6,000,000 livres total). It was meant to stimulate France’s stagnant economy and pay down the staggering national debt acquired from Louis XIV’s wars, including the War of the Spanish Succession.