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12 Livres
| Issuer | Government of New France (Ordonnance / Card Money) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1729-1749 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | P#S107 |
| Obverse description | Octagonal ordonnance note on plain paper, hand-inscribed in ink with the denomination text 'Pour la somme de Douze livres' across the centre field. Two circular wax or ink official seals appear in the upper portion of the note. The document bears manuscript date and place notations at the top, along with two handwritten signatures below the main text, consistent with the colonial treasury ordonnance format of New France. |
|---|---|
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| Signature(s) | Beauharnois and Hocquart |
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| Comments |
Card money was New France's recurring solution to a chronic problem: coins shipped from France were perpetually late, insufficient, or simply never sent. The intendant and governor would cut playing cards into quarters or halves, sign them, impress an official seal, and declare them legal tender — redeemable in coin whenever the treasury ships arrived. This series, carrying the signatures of Governor Beauharnois and Intendant Hocquart, ran across two decades of relative administrative stability before the French crown finally suppressed card money in 1764.
Hocquart's long tenure as intendant (1729–1748) makes him the anchor figure of this issue. His administration was unusually orderly by colonial standards, and redemption of card money was generally honored during his watch — a fact that kept public confidence in the instrument higher than it had any right to be.