Dear Gersigers,
In 1809 an indirect ancestor of mine by marriage, Abraham LIEBMANN from
Bacharach, married Ma(g)dalene KAHN >from Trier, then Treves (E grave).

If I understand correctly, both Trier and Bacharach were under French
rule until the Congress of Vienna in 1815, which gave them to Prussia.

Abraham's and Magdalene's pre-marriage contract, drawn up in French and
evidently under Napoleonic law, is archived at:

https://tinyurl.com/wr2rdav (scroll down about 20 per cent).
It expresses financial amounts two ways, once in words and once
in numbers - but, intriguingly, the former are consistently 210
per cent of the latter.

For example (accents omitted for simplicity):
"... reconnait le dit sieur Abraham Liebmann avoir recu par sa future
epouse une dot de douze cent soixante Francs (600F) dont il declare
parfaitement etre content"

(... the said Mr Abraham LIEBMANN acknowledges receipt >from his future
spouse of a dowry of one thousand two hundred and sixty Francs (600F)
which which he declares that he is perfectly content)
and in the case of Abraham's death

"...= dans la troisieme annee de son mariage ou apres, elle obtiendra
lasomme de dix huit cent quatre vingt dix francs (900F)"

(... in the third year of the marriage or later, she shall obtain the sum
of one thousand eight hundred and ninety francs (900F).

I have searched in vain for anything in the history of the French franc
that would explain this, and I'm mystified. Can any member suggest an
answer?

Peter Lobbenberg, London, UK peterlob@peterlob.co.uk