Catalog
6 Livres Tournois
| Issuer | Isles de France et de Bourbon |
|---|---|
| Year | 1768 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Uniface letterpress note printed on yellow-toned paper, with a simple ruled border framing the entire face. The issuing authority title 'Isles de France & de Bourbon' is set in italic script at the top, followed by the denomination and payment terms in a mixed roman and italic typeface body text. Two manuscript signatures appear in the lower portion, accompanied by the handwritten control notation 'Vu & contrôlé au Bureau du Contrôle de l'Isle de France' at lower right, with a handwritten serial number in the upper left corner. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Isles de France & de Bourbon. Bon pour SIX LIVRES Tournois, payables au Porteur, en Lettre de change à fix mois de vue, fur les Tréforiers généraux des Colonies, en conformité de l'Edit du mois de Juillet 1768. Vu & contrôlé au Bureau du Contrôle de l'Isle de France. |
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The Isles de France et de Bourbon — Mauritius and Réunion under French colonial administration — issued paper currency largely because hard coin simply didn't stay on the islands. Specie drained constantly toward trade with passing ships, forcing local authorities to emit notes as a substitute medium. This 1768 issue predates the Revolutionary period assignats by over two decades and belongs to a much quieter tradition of colonial monetary improvisation under the Ancien Régime.
Livres tournois denominations in colonial French issues of this period were typically authorized by the local governor and intendant jointly, with manuscript signatures and dates completing each note individually. Surviving examples are rare — the Indian Ocean colonies were small, the print runs modest, and paper in tropical climates rarely survives two and a half centuries intact.