I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask, but I can't think of anywhere else to go! I've been rereading Down and Out in London and Paris, in which money is very important with amounts listed out constantly, and I'd like to know how much is being referenced! The stories are set around 1927-1930 France, and some of the figures listed are living on 6 francs a day poorly, being paid 1000 francs a month, etc.
How much was a 1920's franc worth in modern dollars?
if this is in the wrong place, i'll take it down right away! thanks
The French abandoned the gold standard in 1914 and let the franc be a true fiat currency floating in value. The gold standard was re-introduced 1928-1936 but then abandoned again.
Here's a graph that shows the value of the franc compared to 2007 euro.
In 2007, it took 1,3415 dollars to buy one euro. So, in 1925, when the franc was worth about 0,75 euro, it would be the equilent of about 1 dollar.
However, this does not tell the full story of purchasing power. To do that, we would need to know how much a franc was of the total French GDP and how much several standard goods costed, and how long an average worker had to work to earn 1 franc.
