"Welcome to the penal colony at Devil's Island, whose prisoners you are, and from which there is no escape." So went the announcement to the new prisoners in the movie Papillon starring Steve Mcqueen. Originally a leper colony, the Îles du Salut archipelago (literally "Salvation Islands," formerly known as the Îles du Diable, or "Devil's Islands"), is comprised of three islands - Île Royale, Saint-Joseph, and the Île du Diable itself. These islands became the destination for transported prisoners from France, the last of whom left only fifty years ago. The most famous prisoner was Alfred Dreyfus, the French Army officer falsely convicted of treason. He later stated his incarceration there was, "a true excursion into hell!" The Islands were aka French Guiana. French Guiana is a possession located on the northeast coast of South America. IAs previously stated, it was the home of the infamous Devil's Island prison). Only a few, scarce, coins have ever been issued for this remote colony. The first coin struck specifically for the colony is a Sou of 1789. The coin was struck in billon, an alloy of silver and copper, at the Paris Mint. The coin was struck in the name of King Louis XVI and bears three fleur-de-lis beneath the royal crown. The coin was struck at the beginning of the French Revolution - and within four years Louis was beheaded. Here's a photo of that coin courtesy of Joel Anderson (www.joelscoins.com):: http://www.joelscoins.com/images/frguin1br.jpg Thought you'd like to know... Clinker
Nice trivia post. I've seen a number of "Devil's Island" movies but never made the French Guiana connection. Thanks.
They also used some tokens made from holed french coin in the prison itself. These are quite scarce to rare. I do have one floating around in my collection somewhere.
