THE CURRENCY OF GUERNSEY IN HISTORICAL 



TIMES. 



By S. Carey Curtis 

 (Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects). 



The fundamental currency of this Bailiwick is, of course, 

 the livre, sol and denier tournois, still used in the Court for 

 certain fines and for the value of real property. Its sub- 

 division are : — 



12 deniers (denarius) make I sol (solidus). 

 20 sols make i livre (libra). 



It may be observed that the initial letters of the livre, 

 sol and denier form the £ s. d., the emblem to the present 

 day of pounds, shillings and pence. 



The livre, sol and denier were after the Conquest the 

 currency of France as it was then, and also of England. 

 There were various mints functioning in France at Paris, 

 Tours, Anjou and other places, and the mint which gave its 

 name to and provided the Guernsey currency was that of 

 Tours, hence the term tournois, the livre, sol and denier of 

 Tours. The currency of England was 'Tarisis," that of 

 Paris. 



At first the livre did represent what we know as a pound. 

 It represented so much silver or gold or commodities. But 

 the French Kings in order to raise money, soon commenced 

 to< manipulate it by depreciating its value, and this gradually 

 reduced the value of it until in 1789 its actual value was 

 only one seventy-eighth of its nominal value. (1) In England, 

 however, the livre remained at its proper value. This depre- 

 ciation complicated affairs in Guernsey. After the loss of 

 Normandy to the English Crown, the feudal dues still con- 

 tinued to be paid in tournois, and from the end of Edward 

 I.'s reign (he died in 1307), to early in Edward III.'s reign, 

 there were constant disputes with the English Crown as to 

 whether these dues were to be paid in sterling, or in the de- 

 preciated French coin, which was, moreover, constantly 

 fluctuating in value. Finally the Crown consented to be 

 paid in Tournois, and is to this day so paid, but the rate of 

 exchange which stood at 4 to 1 in 1331 and 5 to 1 in 1362 

 finally rose to 14 to 1 temp. Queen Anne, at which figure 

 it was fixed for all time. 



This ratio of 14 to 1 gives the actual value of the livre 

 tournois at about is. ^d., that of the sol at i/-2od., and of a 

 denier at about i-i4d. 



(1) Encyclopedia Britannica, art: Money. 



