New France livre facts for kids

The livre was the money used in New France, which was a French colony in what is now Canada. It was divided into smaller units: 20 sols made one livre, and each sol was made of 12 deniers. What made the New France livre special was that it used a lot of paper money.

A Look Back at Money in New France

At first, people in New France mostly traded goods directly, a system called barter. But soon, the French livre currency started to be used.

To get more coins into the colony, the coins used in New France were given a higher value than the same coins in France. This created a local currency called monnoye de pays, which was worth less than the money in France (called monnoye de France).

• In 1664, the local coins were worth one-eighth more.
• By 1680, this extra value went up to one-third.

New France was known for using a lot of paper money. However, this early paper money often lost its value.

• In 1717, the extra value for coins was stopped.
• The paper money was then worth only half its original value.
• At this time, the New France livre became equal in value to the French livre.

More paper money was printed later. In the 1750s, the government stopped making sure paper money was backed by coins. This made people start to hide their coins, as they were more valuable. After the British took over New France, the paper money became worthless. The livre was then replaced by the pound.

Coins Used in New France

Many different types of coins were used in New France. These included:

• Spanish dollars
• Spanish reales
• Spanish colonial reales

In 1670, silver coins worth 5 and 15 sols were made just for New France. Later, other coins were introduced:

• In 1709, 30-denier coins made of a metal mix called billon were issued.
• In 1711, 15-denier billon coins followed.
• In 1722, copper 9-denier coins were introduced.
• In 1738, 1- and 2-sol billon coins were made in France. These also circulated in New France. They were sometimes called 1⁄2 and 1 sols marqués.

Paper Money and Banknotes

Card Money

In 1685, "card money" was first used. These were simple notes written by hand on the back of playing cards. They were used because there weren't enough coins. The first batch of these notes was taken out of circulation after only three months. Even though the French leaders weren't happy about it, more card money was issued in the 1690s. Over time, inflation made the card money lose its value. By 1717, it was worth only half of its original value.

Other Notes

In the 1720s, the government started using promissory notes, which were called ordonances. Card money was brought back in 1729.

Different values of card money were issued:

• 6, 12, and 24 livres in 1729.
• 30 sols in 1733.
• 20 sols in 1734.
• 3 livres in 1742.
• 7+1⁄2 and 15 sols in 1749.

In 1753, new treasury notes were introduced, also known as ordonances.

• 48-livre notes came out in 1753.
• 20 sols in 1754.
• 3 and 24 livres in 1756.
• 12 and 96 livres in 1757.
• 6 livres in 1758.