World Coins Chat: Réunion

5 posts
Réunion has a common history with Mauritius as part pf the Mascarene islands: 1st time reported on Arabic maps, maybe known by Swahili or Malay ancestors of Oceanic tribes, rediscovered by Portuguese explorers in beginning XVIth century (Mascarene is from Dom Pedro Mascarenhas)... and Réunion named as Santa Apolónia under Portuguese rule. But the island remained uninhabited.

1st French claims occurred from 1638 to 1642 when a dozen French mutinees injailed in Madagascar were deported in this island for several years. In 1649 the island was renamed in old French Isle de Bourbon in honour of the reigning dynasty of Louis XIV. The newly-founded French East India Company (Compagnie française pour le commerce des Indes orientales) decided in 1664-1665 to colonize Madagascar and Mascarene main islands. Only the Isles de France et de Bourbon (now Mauritius and Réunion) were successfully colonized. The island has been renamed a few times after the French Revolution: in 1793 the name Réunion appeared for the 1st time as a commemoration of the union between Marseille revolutionaries and Paris National Guard ; it was renamed again in 1801 Île Bonaparte in honour of the First Consul and future Emperor Napoléon Bonaparte, and again Isle de Bourbon after the Vienna Congress in 1815. Please note that the Royal Navy invaded both islands in 1810, and after this congress, the Île de France has been turned to English rule, becoming later Mauritius. The island was renamed a last time to its definitive name in 1848.

The 1st coinage, specific of both Isles de France et de Bourbon, appeared under Louis XVI in 1779 with a 3-year minting of billon coins of 3 sols/sous minted in Paris Mint (French mintmark A). No more circulating coins were minted for both islands before a 10-pound (Dix livres) silver coin made under the name of Îles de France et Bonaparte a few months before the British conquest. Please note, according to the CGB French website, this highly-rare coin was hand-made in the islands. The Paris mint sent a new 10 centimes billon coin to the newly-restored French colony of Isle de Bourbon, minted in 1816 only. No more specific coinage before the 1896 Réunion copper-nickel bond coins of 50 centimes and 1 franc, followed by aluminium notgeld in 1920. But most of the time, the island depended on national French coinage up to 1948 in which the French currencies were splitted between continental Europe (including Corse) and colonies. There is an ambiguity depending on websites, stating the island had the CFA or the CFP currency, but there is no ambiguity the island had its own coinage from 1948 to 1973, when the island became an Overseas region and turned back to the French national currency.

Please note, to finish this introduction, that as a French region, Réunion was part of the French regions program of €10 silver coins with 3 different coins minted from 2010 to 2012. These coins are legal tender in the whole French territory part of the eurozone, but official shipping was only available in the concerned regional post offices, like for other regions, including Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guyana and Mayotte.

Napoleonic coinage from Îles de France et Bonaparte:
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/iles-de-france-et-bonaparte-1.html
Coinage from Isles de France et de Bourbon, Isle de Bourbon and Réunion:
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/reunion-1.html
Réunion coins from the French regions program:
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/index.php?r=&c=&co=y&cno=y&cc=y&cn=y&cj=y&ce=y&cu=y&cat=y&mode=avance&p=1&e=france&d=&km=&i=REUNION&v=10&m=&a=&t=&dg=&w=&g=&f=
Administrateur du catalogue, référent de nombreuses nations antiques et de la Lorraine.
Catalogue administrator, numerous Antique nations and Lorraine referee.
Is de Fr et Bp should be grouped with the rest cuz I know I'll never fill that one... unless I really make the effort of saving +3000 dollars to get that 10Lv coin... I've plan on getting a replica but haven't found one; just to fill the gap. But I will always know I'm cheating there... but otherwise it will just stay empty... cuz I'm not paying more than melt value + a bit for the work (cuz I would want it silver made but with clear REPLICA words on edge; cuz I don't like perfect replicas cuz thise aren't replicas per se, but fakes).
Numista referee for the "Viceroyalty of the New Spain" (most of it).
History through coins.
Eli V
I have a few Réunion coins from 1948-1975. The others I've never seen.

The Réunion Franc was replaced by the new French Franc in 1975 at a rate of 50 to 1. At introduction in 1948 it was worth 2 old Francs after the latter was devalued and France chose to limit the devaluation to metropolitan France.
I haven't any Reunion coins, but I plan on getting one soon to add to my country collection.
I just added a 1948 and a 1964 Reunion franc to my collection.

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