Silver coins in the denominations of 5 sols
and 15 sols were struck, as well as a 2-derniers piece in copper. The 15-sol piece,
slightly larger than a contemporary Canadian 25-cent piece, was worth a little over one
English shilling of that day. From then on, each summer, a supply of coins arrived from
France. However, since the settlers depended on the mother country for durable goods, the
silver and copper coins invariably found their way back to France.
The chief revenue, which France derived from
the colony, was obtained from the export tax paid by the colonists: 25% on beaver pelts,
and 10% on moose skins. Also the 10% import duty paid on specific goods, chiefly wine and
brandy, found their way to France. Every year all beaver pelts and moose hides had to be
brought to Quebec before the 20th of October in order that they could be baled and loaded
on board ship before the close of navigation.
The fact that the prices for beaver were
guaranteed, regardless of quantity, acted as a decided stimulus to the trade. The only
difference in price was between castor gras—greasy beaver pelts, and castor
sec—dry pelts. Six pelts sewn together into a robe and worn by the natives with the
fur against the body resulted in castor grass pelts. After a winter’s wear the pelts
lost their guard hairs. Because of the soft quality it was then called duvet and was more
valuable.
Intermittent fighting between western
natives and the alliance of the British with the eastern tribes led to great inconsistency
in the returns of the fur trade. These conditions were aggravated by the troubles of the
Canadian administration with the coureurs de bois. These enterprising young men
intercepted the natives on their way to the regular markets at Montreal,and were naturally
declared outlaws.
When attempts were made to bring these
illicit traders under specific regulations, the coureurs de bois simply transferred their
trade to the English in Albany. As early as 1670 Intendant Talon reports that 1,200.000
livres’ worth of beaver pelts had gone to the English at Albany. There they received
a musket for two beaver pelts, while in Montreal a musket required five pelts. When
trading in Albany, the coureurs de bois also escaped the 25% Canadian tax on their beaver.
By early 1681 these conditions reduced Canada’s revenue to a quarter of what it had
been five years earlier.
One important consequence of the increasing
illicit fur trade with the English in Albany, was the amount of Spanish silver currency,
which the coureurs de bois brought back with them. This currency was chiefly in silver
dollars, or piastres, and their fractions—halves, quarters and eighths. The English
traders managed to pass on to their Canadian counterparts a great many worn coins, and
consequently numerous complaints arose due to the fact that the French merchants refused
to accept the worn coins at their face value.
The Spanish dollar was to be accepted at
three livres, nineteen sols and one dernier. An ordinance was passed in 1681 stating that
all foreign money should be converted on the basis of weight, thus reducing worn coins in
value. It was forbidden to refuse these coins at this valuation. It was, of course,
impossible in a colony like Canada for people to properly weigh the coins and, therefore,
to determine accurate exchange rates. To remedy this situation another ordinance was
passed in 1683. All the coins were to be stamped with the fleur-de-lis, and the worn coins
were to be arranged in four classes stamped with Roman numerals. This settled the matter
for a time.
Between 1661 and 1683, more than seven
hundred decrees and orders relating to money, directly or indirectly, were issued. For
example: Special authority for colonial coinage in November 1663; Regulation for the price
of wheat, May 1665; Advisability for sending goods to Canada instead of money, February
1671; Moose skin as currency, September 1674; Refusal to send money to Canada, April 1677.
To make matters worse, the King’s annual coinage shipment sometimes failed to arrive.
All too often this was because none had been sent.
Gradually the economy suffered from an
overabundance of beaver. Being at the mercy of such vagaries as fashions in men’s
hats—by now a narrower brim—and the use of cheaper felt-making materials such as
rabbit fur and sheep wool, the already shrinking pelt market finally collapsed. This had
disastrous results for Canada.
In 1680, westward expansion brought the
colony to face again the menace of a war with the Iroquois—the most formidable
military power in North America—who invaded Illinois territory. The continued attacks
of the Iroquois kept everyone on guard. In October 1682, to prepare for conflict due to
the mounting tension, King Louis XIV ordered every able-bodied man in Canada to purchase
firearms. In order to pay for the weapons the King instructed the merchants to accept
payment in wheat at the rate of 50 sols a peck and also accept peas and Indian corn at the
same price. The price of wheat fluctuated but at that time one pound of bread could be
bought for one sol.
France’s hatters, eager for the
European monopoly on felt hats, had opposed the exports of any pelts to countries were
craftsmen would compete with them. As a result there was an unmarketable surplus of beaver
pelts in France, and the price became so low that there was no longer any profit.
Eventually when the Canadian supply of
beaver pelts fell from 95,489 pounds in 1683 to 23,568 pounds in 1685, it caused a
corresponding decline in goods imported in exchange for it. Meanwhile, to correct the
problem of the coin shortage and keep the currency in Canada, the Intendant in Quebec,
Jacques Demeulles, proclaimed that traders of peltries were prohibited, under penalty, to
pay with coins. Anyone failing to comply with this edict would have his goods confiscated
and fined two thousand livres. The proceeds of the fine were divided; one-third to His
Majesty, one-third to the Hotel Dieu of Quebec; and one-third to the informant.
At the same time the troops sent from France
to fight the Iroquois, greatly increased France’s expenditures in the colony.
Demeulles found himself in a particularly difficult position. In September 1685 he wrote
to the French government, pointing out that no provision had been made for the
soldier’s salaries. To meet the most urgent requirements he had drawn upon his own
private means and those of his friends.
A few months later Demeulles found himself
without cash on hand to pay the soldiers’ monthly wages. There were no available
supplies of paper in the colony and, of course, no printing presses. Demeulles decided to
gather up all the playing cards. He cut the cards—which were glossy and of good
quality—in four, marked the value of each quarter, and affixed his signature and
seal. These quartered cards—the first paper currency in Canada, and indeed in North
America*—were to be used for future payments. He issued an ordinance, declaring that
these cards would be redeemed as soon as the ships arrived and meanwhile they had to be
accepted at face value. However, no sooner were the playing cards redeemed than
circumstances would make it expedient to issue a fresh quantity. Meanwhile the colonists
became accustomed to the paper currency. Indeed, they found it much handier and
transportable than the more bulky items of barter.
When in 1690 part of the supplies sent to
Canada was lost at sea, the new Intendant, Champigny, issued another supply of playing
card money to meet this exceptional situation. However, this did not increase the supply
of merchandise or enable the merchants to purchase goods from France.
Thus prices rose steadily, and when in 1702
Intendant Beauharnois succeeded Champigny, a great deal of unredeemed playing card money
was still in circulation. The colonists were waiting to have their cards redeemed whenever
the money supply from France finally arrived.
The delay in redeeming the cards somehow
increased confidence in Canada’s paper currency and card money became a regular means
of meeting all deficiencies in the supply of coins. By 1714 playing cards to the value of
two million livres were in circulation, with some cards being worth as much as one hundred
livres.
Back in France Louis XIV had been sending
his armies against the Spanish in the Low Countries and in 1672 he began a 6-year war with
the Dutch.
Intermittent European hostilities led Louis
to a major attack in the War of the League of Augsburg (1689-1697). From 1702 to 1713
France fought the War of the Spanish Succession. The cost of glory was high, and the state
could never raise enough money by taxation to pay the bill. Therefore, the treasury was
unable to redeem the Canadian playing card money when it fell due at the end of 1715. When
this became known the settlers preferred to keep their cards, which still maintained some
value in the colony.
Shortly after, another ordinance from France
extended the time for redeeming the card money until the autumn of 1719, when the last
vessel of that year would depart from Quebec.
In March of 1719, Sieur Pierre-Charles Leduc
decided to sell his property located in the seigneury of Ste. Marie, near Trois-Rivières.
His concession stretched away from the west bank of the Ste. Anne River and was one of the
customary long and narrow strips of land that fronted the various rivers of the
settlements, to allow access by boat or canoe. To finalize the sale, Leduc went to notary
François Trotain at the seigneury of Batiscan, who drew up this agreement:
" . . . . To wit, a dwelling place
six arpents**wide, by twenty-five arpents in depth, located in the seigneury of Ste.
Marie, with all properties and buildings . . . bordering in front on the shore of the Ste.
Anne River, and in back land not yet granted. Said dwelling-place being under the
quit-rent area of the late Jean le Moyne. Charged to them at one minot (peck) of wheat and
three capons, and one capon for the commons, as annual and perpetual seigneurial rent,
with one sol payable every year on the day and feast of St. Martin in November . . . .
The said-dwelling place adjoining on the
north-west side the dwelling-place of Pierre Vaillant (step-father of Pierre-Charles
Leduc) and on the south, that of Joseph Rocheron/Rochereau . . . . for the price of
fifteen hundred livres, money of this country . . . .
.. . . . the said seller promising to
place in the hands of the said buyers a deed confirming the ownership of the said
dwelling-place. For thus promising & obligating & renouncing & done and
transacted in the office of the said notary, in the afternoon this day, the twenty-sixth
of March, one thousand and seven hundred nineteen, in the presence of Sieur François
Frigon and Jacques Rouillard of said Batiscan, who signed, as well as the said seller and
Sieur Roussin & the notary, witnesses required for this purpose & as regards to
said Trudelle, he stated he could not sign, having been queried on this point. Moreover,
duly read according to law’ (Four words erased which are invalid)
(signed) Pierre le Duc
Nicolas Roussin
Frigon
Jacque Rouillard
Trotain (notary)
"For, and in the name of my mother,
I confirm having received from the purchasers aforementioned, and the other parties, the
sum of one hundred and twenty-five livres in card money, for the tenants of the said sale,
for which the purchasers are discharged in said capacity, specified—on this 26th of
March 1719. (signed) La Gastineau
("La Gastineau" was the late Jean
le Moyne’s daughter, then married. The payment was for feudal dues.)
Later that year, Le Chameau*** arrived with
the long-awaited cargo of coins, plus an advance for the expenses of 1720.
In 1729, before leaving France for Canada,
the new Intendant, purchased 2,000 packs of unprinted playing cards—52 in each
pack—for the purpose of preparing card money. Unfortunately, two-thirds of the packs
were lost in the shipwreck of the King’s vessel. The remaining cards were cut
according to a fixed value; the highest was a whole card worth 24 livres.
All told, between 1685 to 1760, twenty-two
issues of card money were introduced and used in Canada. In the latter part of this period
the issue of ordinances, notes drawn on the treasury of Quebec and written on plain paper,
supplemented the supply of card money. Although the issuance of cardmoney was originally
intended as a temporary expedient—a provisional measure—the economy of Canada
was run almost entirely on locally produced card money for a period of seventy-five years.
The colonists not only accepted this money readily but a sizeable percentage of the
currency disappeared for years from circulation, indicating the degree of confidence they
placed in its value.
However, when the British took over the
Canadian territories in 1759, more than 14 million livres of such notes were in
circulation. Because the French government refused to redeem the notes, the value of card
money dropped considerably until an agreement with Britain was finally reached for its
redemption.
Apart from the statistical portrait of the
Leduc family, I have drawn upon other disciplines in an effort to understand more of their
lives.
Therefore, the above record, signed by
Pierre-Charles, exemplifies certain characteristics of his time—aspects of the past
that cannot be found in history books alone.
* In 1690 the colony of Massachusetts lacked
the necessary metallic currency to pay its soldiers and this led to the production of
Colonial Bills of Credit. A few years later other colonies followed with similar issues.
** The French pied (foot) equaled 32.48 cm.
The arpent in distance equaled approximately 191 feet.
*** During its seventh voyage to Canada Le
Chameau, a flute, was wrecked on the shores of Isle Royale (now Nova Scotia). In 1960 the
remains of the ship were discovered off the coast of Cape Breton Island. Still aboard was
a large quantity of corroded silver écus and untarnished gold louis, testimony to the
great loss which the hard pressed colony suffered in 1725.
The Bank of Canada Currency Museum in Ottawa
and the Château de Ramezay Museum in Montreal have a collection of early coins and
reproductions of playing card money.
