Euro Born: European Exchange Rates Frozen Forever
The euro's birth happened on a weekend, in spreadsheets, not speeches. Eleven currencies locked their exchange rates at 11:07 p.m. Brussels time — the Belgian franc, German mark, French franc, and eight others became frozen ghosts, still circulating but no longer sovereign. The Italian lira, worth 1,936.27 to one euro, couldn't depreciate its way out of problems anymore. Neither could any of them. Germany gave up the Deutsche mark, stable since 1948, rebuilt from rubble. France surrendered monetary independence for the first time since Napoleon. And the calculation that mattered most: one euro equaled $1.1747. Three years before physical coins existed, before anyone held one, 290 million people stopped controlling their own money.
December 31, 1998
28 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on December 31
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