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12 Livres Tournois
| Issuer | Isles de France et de Bourbon |
|---|---|
| Year | 1780 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 12 Livres Tournois |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Typeset letterpress note enclosed within a decorative border of repeated ornamental units. The heading 'Isles de France & de Bourbon.' is set across the top, with the denomination in mixed roman and italic type reading 'BON pour DOUZE Livres Tournois, valeur reçue en Ordonnance.' occupying the central field; the word 'Vu' appears at lower left beneath a floral ornament. Manuscript ink additions include handwritten signatures and a serial number, with diagonal cancellation lines drawn across the face. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Plain unprinted paper reverse. Manuscript ink inscriptions include a handwritten date reading '16 7bre 1785' and a cursive signature; faint ornamental impressions at the lower left and right corners appear to have transferred from the obverse through folding. |
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| Comments |
The Isles de France (Mauritius) and Bourbon (Réunion) operated as a joint colonial currency zone under French administration, and notes like this 12 Livres Tournois were issued to address chronic coin shortages in the Indian Ocean colonies — metallic currency consistently drained away through trade with India and the East Indies. The denomination itself is unusual; 12 livres tournois is not a round figure by colonial standards, suggesting it was calibrated to meet a specific transactional gap in local commerce.
1780 falls squarely within the tenure of the Compagnie des Indes' successor administration, after the Crown had taken direct control of the islands. Surviving examples are exceptionally rare.