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 coins.

History

Initially, 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 a ...

circulated. This was supplemented by overstamped and cut coins in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, especially between 1811 and 1816 when Guadeloupe was occupied by

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

. The

French franc The franc (, ; sign: F or Fr), also commonly distinguished as the (FF), was a currency of France. Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amount of money. It w ...

replaced the livre after French control was re-established, with the Guadeloupe franc issued from 1848.

Coins

In 1793, French 12 deniers coins were overstamped with the letters "RF" and circulated for 3 sous 9 deniers ( escalin). In 1802, 1 and 4 escalins coins were produced by cutting

Spanish dollar The Spanish dollar, also known as the piece of eight ( es, Real de a ocho, , , or ), is a silver coin of approximately diameter worth eight Spanish reales. It was minted in the Spanish Empire following a monetary reform in 1497 with content ...

s into a central, octagonal part for the 4 escalins coins and eight outer sections for the 1 escalin coins. Both were stamped with "RF" and the 4 escalins were also stamped "4E". In 1811, a number of different denominations were issued, all of which were stamped with a crowned letter "G". 10 sous coins were produced from

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

and Spanish colonial real, British 3 pence and French

écu The term ''écu'' () or crown may refer to one of several French coins. The first ''écu'' was a gold coin (the ''écu d'or'') minted during the reign of Louis IX of France, in 1266. ''Écu'' (from Latin ''scutum'') means shield, and the coin ...

. 20 sous coins were produced from 1 real, 12 sous and 6 pence coins, and central plugs cut from Spanish dollars. 40 sous coins were produced from écu, 24 sous and 1 shilling coins. 9 livres coins were produced from Spanish dollars from which a central plug (used to make 20 sous coins) had been cut. Brazilian 6,400

réis The first official currency of Brazil was the real (pronounced ; pl. ''réis''), with the symbol Rs$. As the currency of the Portuguese empire, it was in use in Brazil from the earliest days of the colonial period, and remained in use until 1942 ...

were overstamped with the crowned "G" and "82.10" to produced 82 livres 10 sous coins. In 1813, 2 livres 5 sous coins were produced from quarter segments of Spanish dollars.

References

* Modern obsolete currencies

Livre LIVRE (, L), previously known as LIVRE/Tempo de Avançar (, L/TDA), is a green political party in Portugal founded in 2014. Its founding principles are ecology, universalism, freedom, equity, solidarity, socialism and Europeanism. Its symbol i ...

1816 disestablishments Currencies of the Caribbean {{Guadeloupe-stub

History

Coins

See also

References