Guinean franc facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Guinean franc
5000 franc of the old series 1000 franc of the old series
ISO 4217 Code	GNF
User(s)	Guinea
Inflation	7.9%
Source	The World Factbook, 2016 est.
Subunit
1⁄100	centime (never used)
Symbol	FG
Coins	1, 5, 10, 25, 50 francs
Banknotes
Freq. used	100, 500, 1,000, 2,000, 5,000, 10,000, 20,000 francs
Rarely used	25, 50 francs

The Guinean franc (called franc guinéen in French) is the official money used in the country of Guinea. It has an international code of GNF. Even though it's technically divided into 100 centimes, you won't find any centime coins or notes because they were never made.

The Story of Guinea's Money

The Guinean franc has an interesting history, changing over time to meet the country's needs. Let's explore how it came to be!

The First Guinean Franc (1959-1971)

Guinea introduced its very first Guinean franc in 1959. This new money replaced the CFA franc, which was used in many West African countries.

The first coins were made of a metal called aluminium bronze. They came in values of 1, 5, 10, and 25 francs. The banknotes (paper money) were printed with the year 1958 and had values of 50, 100, 500, 1000, 5000, and 10,000 francs.

A second set of banknotes was released in 1963. These notes had more colors and better security features to prevent fake money. In 1962, new coins were also made from a different metal called cupronickel.

However, the first Guinean franc didn't last forever. In 1971, it was replaced by a new currency called the Guinean syli. One syli was worth 10 old francs.

The Second Guinean Franc (1985-Today)

After some years, the Guinean franc made a comeback! In 1985, it was brought back as Guinea's money, and one new franc was worth one syli.

Coins and Banknotes Return

When the franc returned, new coins were introduced. These included 1, 5, and 10 franc coins made of brass-covered steel. Later, 25 franc coins (in 1987) and 50 franc coins (in 1994) were added.

The first banknotes of this new series came in values of 25, 50, 100, 500, 1000, and 5000 francs. A cool fact about these notes is that their issue date is a big part of their design, usually found in the bottom left corner!

Newer Banknote Series

In 1998, a second series of banknotes was released. The 25 and 50 franc notes were removed because coins of those values were now being used instead.

Then, in 2006, a third series of banknotes came out. These were for 500, 1000, and 5000 francs. They looked similar to the older ones but had better printing and more advanced security features. The 500 franc note in this series was also made a bit smaller.

On June 11, 2007, a brand new 10,000 franc banknote was introduced. This was the highest value note at the time.

Special and Updated Notes

In 2010, special banknotes were made to celebrate two big anniversaries: 50 years of the Guinean franc and 50 years of the Central Bank of the Republic of Guinea (BCRG). These special 1000, 5000, and 10,000 franc notes had a diamond-shaped logo to mark the event.

More updates followed:

• On July 9, 2012, a new 10,000 franc banknote was issued. Its main color changed from green to red, and it featured a new holographic security patch.
• On May 11, 2015, a very high-value 20,000 franc banknote was released.
• On January 21, 2018, the 20,000 franc note was updated. It was made smaller and had even more advanced security features.
• On March 1, 2019, to celebrate the 59th anniversary of the currency, the Central Bank updated the 10,000 franc note and introduced a new 2,000 franc note.

Today, the smallest banknote you'll commonly see is the 500 franc note. This is because smaller values don't buy as much as they used to.

How Much is Guinean Money Worth?

The value of the Guinean franc can change compared to other world currencies. For example, as of October 23, 2018, 1 Euro was worth about 10,417.46 Guinean Francs. This means that even the largest banknote, the 20,000 franc note, was worth less than 2 Euros at that time.

See also

• Economy of Guinea

Historical Currencies:

• CFA franc
• Guinean syli