Original Playing Card Money

Here's the info from the COA of the Jack of Hearts $15 coin; 1st coin in the series that commemorates the playing card money.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, New France faced chronic shortages. The colony was months away from the motherland, isolated for months by winter ice and the treacherous Atlantic Ocean that claimed countless sailing ships. Everything was scarce - including coins.

Still, merchants, civil servants and soldiers had to be paid. In a desperate move to keep daily transactions flowing, the governor began issuing playing cards with a written promise to pay what was owed when the next shipment of coins arrived from France. Historic records show that cards were cut into halves or quarters and had their corners clipped to reflect different values.
"Playing card money" was first issued in 1685. Despite the king's displeasure, authorities continued to implement this temporary measure whenever their colony faced a coin shortage. In 1729, they began using plain card stock which circulated like modern bank notes until New France fell to the British in 1759.

Counterfeiting was always a concern and the penalty severe. Cards that weren't reissued when they were "cashed in" were destroyed. As a result, only one set of playing card money is known to have survived into the 20th century. It served as the model for reproductions created by Henri Beau, iconographic researcher at Library and Archives Canada which graciously provided this drawing of the Jack of Hearts for this series. The name G DE PARIS that appears across the bottom is likely the name of the original artist while the name LAHIRE is believed to reflect the 15th -century custom of naming each jack after a famous figure, in this case one of Charles VII's generals. The inscription on the back of the card suggest the Jack of Hearts was valued at fifty livres.

The Jack of Hearts design has been selectively coloured and reflects the single right-side-up image that prevailed prior to the introduction of the double-headed designs after 1870. The obverse features the effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by Susanna Blunt.

Great write up on our Canadian history kuh_85 with lots of info.
Thank you for posting

Great historical items if genuine.
Should have sold fo ten times the realized price.
Check out the last two sold by Heritage.
Sale of genuine playing card money is restricted by the Heritage and Culture Act, I see no caveats in the auction listing,I wonder if the auction company sold these in compliance with the law.

I have 5 a royal flush in diamonds , I purchased the first one as the script on back looked like my gg grandfathers name perrault or possibly Terraoult he was living in new france at the time activly fur trading. Facinating stuff would love to know more of how all these surfaced suddenly new of them but never saw one till the last 3 auctions