Card money
You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in French. (March 2024) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (October 2017) |
Card money is a type of
Design and use
In order to prepare
Card money was generally issued, at least initially, in emergency situations.
Applications
New France
Canada
During the expansion of the French colony in New France (in what is now Canada) in the 17th century, currency had to be imported from France. When the colony faced insolvency owing to great expenses fighting the Iroquois and a diminishing beaver trade,[4] intendant Jacques de Meulles introduced card money to pay soldiers;[5] this soon spread into general use, including commerce.[6][2] The introduction of card money allowed the colony to reduce deliveries of specie, which could be lost at sea to weather or attack;[7] no specie could be produced locally owing to a lack of precious metals.[8] The currency caught on, and values equal to 100 livres are recorded. Eventually, an estimated two million livres in card money is thought to have circulated.[2]
By the end of the decade New France faced
The recall of card money led to more than a decade of stagnancy, as there was no circulating currency. For this reason, in 1730 the government reinstated card money, reaching a total value of 600,000 livres by 1733. Unlike the earlier issues of card money, however, these were printed on plain cards, rather than playing cards. In 1763, after another burst of inflation brought on by a turbulent war-time economy, card money was ultimately and permanently withdrawn from the settlement.[8][12]
French Louisiana
Between 1716 and 1720, John Law and his privately held (French government backed) Banque Royale issued paper currency in colonial French Louisiana far in excess of the reserve set aside to back these issues. When investors attempted to redeem notes for specie, the bank stopped payment. The "Mississippi Bubble" began to burst in May 1720, when Banque Royale notes were depreciated by 50% followed by a financial crisis in France.[13] For nearly 18 months there was no official circulating currency. The Company of the Indies ran storehouses for employees. The purchase of goods required vouchers which circulated as a makeshift currency.[14] The company began issuing card money in January 1722[15] with two authorizing signatures[14] of company directors in France or local officers in Louisiana.[16] Denominations ranged from 5 sous to 50 livres, in different shapes to be easily distinguished by non-French speaking and illiterate population.[14] With the introduction of the company card money also came severe inflation.[17] By 1725 both the company vouchers and cards had been redeemed.[14]
In the early 1730s, again faced with a shortage of specie and letters of exchange, the
A 1758 request by ordonnateur Vincent de Rochemore, that card money again be issued, went ignored.[22] Some of the Louisiana card money remained extant into the 1760s.[23] However, none of the several thousand government notes issued are known to have survived until the present.[24] There are likewise no known surviving examples of Company of the Indies issues.[14]
Illinois Country
By the 1740s the administrators of Fort de Chartres, in the Illinois Country, were using card money to pay their troops; the numismatist Harry Wigington suggests that the currency was introduced by administrators who had experience with similar notes in Canada or New Orleans. Known as Solde de Troupe notes, this card money did not have official government backing. Rather, it was authorized by the fort's commanders and applied by the guardians of its warehouse. These notes were discontinued when the British – who, by law, had to pay their soldiers in specie – assumed control of the fort in 1763.[25] However, owing to continued French cultural and social influence, circulation and issuance of these notes continued into the mid-1760s.[26]
Dutch Guiana
Card money was first used in
The card currency produced in Guiana soon outpaced demand, such that inflation became an issue, and although the cards ostensibly traded at 3 card guilders to 2.50 guilders from the Netherlands, the value began fluctuating greatly. However, the colony's residents continued to use card money, and when Guiana was controlled by the British in the early 19th century, they also produced this money, fearing a deficit. The Dutch regained control of Guiana in 1816, and the card money continued. In 1826, the Dutch colonial government formally introduced paper currency,[27] similar to Dutch banknotes but with the word Suriname overprinted on the bills. The colony's card money was not formally abolished until two years later.[1][2][3]
In his 1997 book Surinam Paper Currency, Theo van Elmpt records a total of 94 issues of card money in the country,
France
During the French Revolution, billets de confiance ("bills of trust") were issued on card money and similar paper by employers or similar authorities. An estimated 5500 different billets were issued from approximately 1500 communes between 1790 and 1793.[28] They were generally printed on cards or coloured paper, and signed by the bearer or issuing authority. This money was generally oriented horizontally, and decorations could include revolutionary symbolism (such as a liberty cap or fasces), patriotic slogans, the name of commune where a billet was issued, or an ornate border.[28]
These billets de confiance bore no guarantee, but could be exchanged for
Evaluation
Veronique Deblon, writing for the National Bank of Belgium, notes that all issues of card money "could not be called unqualified success[es]", as they were capable of solving budget deficits but eventually were overproduced, leading to inflation.[2] The numismatist Neil Shafer concurs, noting that the card money of Guiana "served its purpose" in spite of the devaluation.[1] In his article on the card money in French Canada, Larry Allen described it as "show[ing] the flexibility, adaptability, and inventiveness of an expanding economic system", despite "seem[ing] ... far-fetched".[8]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Shafer 2012, Surinam.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Deblon 2012, Money Games.
- ^ a b c d e f Tori, Wan Bigi Karta.
- ^ Bank of Canada 1966, p. 6.
- ^ McLachlan 1911, p. 2.
- ^ Bank of Canada 1966, p. 7.
- ^ Bank of Canada 1966, p. 8.
- ^ a b c d Allen 2009, p. 314.
- ^ Pritchard 2004, p. 253.
- ^ Lester 1964, p. 12.
- ^ Bank of Canada 1966, pp. 6–8.
- ^ a b Clark 1970, p. 113.
- ^ Newman 2008, p. 157.
- ^ a b c d e Newman 2008, p. 159.
- ^ Miller Surrey 1916, p. 119.
- ^ Gayarre 1854, p. 282.
- ^ Gayarre 1854, p. 467.
- ^ a b Miller Surrey 1916, p. 126.
- ^ Clark 1970, p. 114.
- ^ Clark 1970, pp. 114–115.
- ^ Clark 1970, p. 117.
- ^ Clark 1970, p. 124.
- ^ Clark 1970, p. 98.
- ^ Wigington 1984, p. 4.
- ^ Wigington 1984, pp. 3–5.
- ^ Wigington 1984, p. 9.
- ^ a b Cuhaj 2012, p. 1122.
- ^ a b Taws 2013, p. 14.
- ^ Taws 2013, p. 69.
- ^ Aftalion 1990, pp. 97, 123.
- ^ Taws 2013, pp. 14–15.
- ^ a b Aftalion 1990, p. 98.
Works cited
- Allen, Larry (2009). Encyclopedia of Money (2nd ed.). Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-59884-252-4.
- Aftalion, Florin (1990). The French Revolution, an Economic Interpretation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-36241-2.
- Bank of Canada (1966). The Story of Canada's Currency (2nd ed.). Ottawa: Bank of Canada. OCLC 231875966.
- Clark, John Garretson (1970). New Orleans, 1718–1812: An Economic History. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. ISBN 978-0-8071-0346-3.
- Cuhaj, George S., ed. (2012). Standard Catalog of World Paper Money General Issues – 1368–1960. Vol. 2. Krause. ]
- Deblon, Veronique (October 2012). "Money Games". National Bank of Belgium Museum. Archived from the original on 11 September 2014. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
- Gayarre, Charles (1854). History of Louisiana – The French Dominion. New York: Redfield.
- Lester, Richard A. (1964). "Playing-Card Currency of French Canada". In Edward P. Neufeld (ed.). Money and Banking in Canada. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. pp. 9–23. OCLC 732600576.
- McLachlan, R. W. (1911). The Canadian Card Money. Montreal: [s.n.] OCLC 0665751753.
- Miller Surrey, Nancy M. (1916). The Commerce of Louisiana During the French Regime, 1699 – 1763. Columbia University (Dissertation). ISBN 9780722266137.
- Newman, Eric P. (2008). The Early Paper Money of America. Krause Publications. ISBN 978-0-89689-326-9.
- Pritchard, James (2004). In Search of Empire: The French in the Americas, 1670–1730. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-82742-3.
- Shafer, Neil (3 January 2012). "Surinam a Collecting Challenge". Bank Note Reporter. Archived from the original on 11 September 2014. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
- Taws, Richard (2013). The Politics of the Provisional: Art and Ephemera in Revolutionary France. University Park, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 978-0-271-05418-6.
- Tori, Mori. "Wan Bigi Karta" [A Big Card]. Central Bank of Suriname. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
- Wigington, Harry G. (January–February 1984). "The Illinois Country Currency". Paper Money. XXIII (1). Society of Paper Money Collectors: 3–11. ISSN 0031-1162. (subscription required)