Article

Jacques de Meulles

Published Online January 13, 2008

Last Edited March 4, 2015

 Jacques de Meulles, chevalier, INTENDANT of New France 1682-86 (d at Orléans, France May 1703). De Meulles, despite explicit instructions, was embroiled in confrontation with Governor LA BARRE throughout his term.
Playing-Card Money
Card money was invented to overcome a currency shortage in New France. When the king's ship arrived, it was redeemed in cash (courtesy Library and Archives Canada/C-17069)

Meulles, Jacques de

 Jacques de Meulles, chevalier, INTENDANT of New France 1682-86 (d at Orléans, France May 1703). De Meulles, despite explicit instructions, was embroiled in confrontation with Governor LA BARRE throughout his term. In 1685, when the minister, Seignelay, neglected to send cash to pay the troops who were sent to control the increasingly threatening Iroquois nations, de Meulles used playing cards as money, promising redemption the following year. This expedient of using PLAYING-CARD MONEY was frequently resorted to thereafter and was a forerunner of modern paper money. In 1685 the new governor, DENONVILLE, accused de Meulles of greed and illegal trafficking, thereby causing his recall to France.