This became a major problem for the Union and other economic players. The currency of the local economy, the merchant needed a way to convert it back into there local currency. Thus the beginning of the Forex markets. Trading In the Forex Markets: 5) How Secretive is a Country: The New England colonies (Connecticut, Massachusetts Bay, New Hampshire and Rhode Island) accepted each other's paper money as legal tender in their territories. Token coins were also cross-boundary legal tender as were banknotes (1900) recognized by the banks of the member countries. The second, more important, experiment was the Latin Monetary Union. It was a purely French contraption, intended to further, cement, and augment its political prowess and monetary clout. Belgium adopted the French Franc when it attained independence in 1830. It was only natural that France and Belgium (together with Switzerland) should encourage others to join them in 1848. Italy followed in 1861 and the last ones were Greece and Bulgaria (!) in 1867. Together they formed the bimetallic currency union known as the Latin Monetary Union, the quantities of gold and silver Union coins that member