France issued a number of jetons in both copper and silver for it's colonies in the americas (The Indies, Louisianna and Canada), all of which have generally been officially (and unofficially in some cases) restruck through the ages. As a collector of french jetons, it is only recently that I have turned my attention to the ones which also have an American connection. It was only a few weeks ago that I actually became aware of the Castorland jeton of the 1790's (it gets a mention in the Red Book but it didn't connect with me that it was in fact a jeton until recently) . There is a series of French jetons `Tresor Royal' which celebrates the riches of the royal treasury. The 1725 issue of the `Tresor Royal' jeton was made specifically for the Montreal based `Compagnie des Indes' according to Edouard Frossard in his booklet `Franco-American Jetons' (NY 1899). I recently managed to find a nice original example of the 1725 for my collection but doubt that I will be able to follow up on this with more originals judging by what I have seen of their prices in the US and Canada. Restrikes of the `colonies francaise' jetons which were issued for collectors by Paris Mint in the late 1880's do seem to be a little more do-able although some of these cost as much as the originals due to their very low mintage numbers. Here's the 1725 I have. The reverse is a river god (holding a cornucopia, directing the flow of the river, while standing on a crocodile or aligator...yah gotta give it the french to come up with something like that) The legend translates as: `widely he scatters his gifts'.
Wow! I had no idea such coins existed. This is pretty cool. Just knowing about them is an experience. Checking the ANS database for "colonies... colonial... colony" against jeton, I found only one article: Giedroyc, Richard. " Discovery piece evidence of coinage in Dutch colony : jeton predates New Englnad pieces." ( Coin finds, Dutch United States New York 1984. Counters Netherlands New York Colonial period. ) Coin world Vol. 33, no. 1672 (Apr. 27, 1992). This seems to be an underdeveloped area of numismatics.
Try a Google search using `franco american jeton' . It should produce some steers literature wise, but you are 100% correct about it being an underdeveloped area of numismatics. Also Google `Castorland'. it will provide a link to an article at coinfacts.com...etc.... Here's a nice original 1751 silvered copper piece (sadly, not mine). Ian
Ian, I am so happy to see that you are posting again. I come and go but I will be checking in more to read your posts. You always seem to have something to share or teach.
