The livre was the currency of various
French colonies
From the 16th to the 17th centuries, the First French colonial empire stretched from a total area at its peak in 1680 to over , the second largest empire in the world at the time behind only the Spanish Empire. During the 19th and 20th centuri ...
until the early 19th century. It was subdivided into 20
sous, each of 12
deniers. It was mostly issued in paper money form and was generally linked to the
French livre
The livre (abbreviation: £ or ₶., French for (pound)) was the currency of Kingdom of France and its predecessor state of West Francia from 781 to 1794. Several different livres existed, some concurrently. The livre was the name of coins ...
at the rate of colonial livres = 1 French livre. Colonies where it was used include
French Guiana
French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...
,
Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the ...
(see
Guadeloupe livre The livre was the currency of Guadeloupe until 1816. It was subdivided into 20 ''sous'', each of 12 ''deniers'', with the ''escalin'' worth 15 sous. The Guadeloupe livre was a French colonial currency, distinguished by the use, in part, of Spanish ...
),
Saint-Domingue
Saint-Domingue () was a French colony in the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, in the area of modern-day Haiti, from 1659 to 1804. The name derives from the Spanish main city in the island, Santo Domingo, which came to refer ...
(See:
Haitian livre The livre was the currency of Haiti until 1813. The Haitian livre was a French colonial currency, distinguished by the use, in part, of Spanish coins. It was equal to the French livre and was subdivided into 20 sous, each of 12 deniers. The ''esc ...
),
Martinique
Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in th ...
,
Mauritius
Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...
,
New France
New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spai ...
(see
New France livre
The was the currency of New France, the French colony in modern-day Canada. It was subdivided into 20 , each of 12 . The New France was a French colonial currency, distinguished by the use of paper money.
History
After an initial period during w ...
) and
Réunion
Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...
.
Globalfinancialdata.com
References
Modern obsolete currencies
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