The Vancouver Numismatic Society
A Numismatic Adventure at Louisbourg by Peter N. Moogk
In 1975-76 I was a visiting historian at the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site. Documentary research and archaeological excavations were going on to guide a partial reconstruction of this fortified French seaport that had existed from 1713 to 1758. The federal government hoped that the site would become a tourist attraction on Nova Scotia’s Cape Breton. The island’s old economy, based on coal mining and steel production, was in decline. Alternative employment had to be found for the population. Some 800 coins had been found by the archaeologists and 695 were identifiable. Immersion in damp soil and sea salt made several coins unrecognizable. There had been a start in identifying the coins and, for me, as a coin collector, this was an opportunity to find out what currency French colonists were using in the 1700s. The first photo shows a young me examining coins in the artifact storage room. Gold coins were absent and silver ones were few; most finds were copper and bronze pieces. The reason was obvious; people would notice the loss of a valuable coin and would have tried to find it.
Moreover, silver and gold would stand out against the dark soil. They would be easier to find. The collection was full of surprises. Coins made expressly for the French colonies, such as the copper nine deniers of 1721-22, were rare. The settlers were using coins from the previous century, especially copper liards of the 1650s, worth three deniers. They accounted for a third of all the coins discovered. Thirty-two dardennes made in 1710-13 from bronze cannons and worth six deniers were a revelation to me. I had not seen this coin before. One denier coins, like Canadian cents in recent years, were of such little value that they were neither minted nor used in the 1700s. There were twelve deniers to a sol, sometimes called a “douzain.” These sols or sous were made of billon, copper with a small admixture of silver. Again, most were from another century, a few from 1500s. They acquired another name, “sous marques” because they were often stamped with a fleur-de-lis to raise their value to fifteen deniers. Eleven billon thirty deniers coins from 1709-13, called “mousquetaires” because the cross on one side resembled that on a musketeer’s tabard, were found. Another, equally rare issue of billon coins valued at 18 deniers from a 1738 series were also called “sous marques”. It was obvious that the colonists relied on old, worn French coins from earlier centuries for small change. Eighteenth century issues were uncommon. As for silver, there was one Mexican dollar, eight Spanish colonial cobs, and three milled, two reales coins from Spain. The second photo shows one of these Spanish coins on the far left of the top row, beside a 1740 sou marque, and a copper liard. Below are a billon 15 deniers sol of the 1690s, a Dardenne, and another liard with the profile of a young Louis XIV. These were all found on the site.
In the March 1976 issue of the Canadian Numismatic Journal, I reported on my findings in an article titled “A Pocketful of Change at Louisbourg.” I published a later, complementary article about the coins found by archaeologists at Quebec City’s Place Royale. Consequently, Charlton’s yearly catalogue of Canadian coins expanded its list of foreign currency that had circulated in Canada. I intended to buy good specimens of the coins that I now knew were in common use in the colony of New France. My publications backfired. As soon as I had identified the French coins that had a Canadian connection, their price shot up. That was the numismatist’s equivalent of shooting yourself in the foot. I got my representative coins, but a much higher price than I would have been charged in earlier years.