Timeline

• 01.05.1723
• Rating of the Spanish Dollar (8 Spanish Real in silver) at 3 Mascarenes Livres (= 60 Sols)
• 01.05.1723
• Ordinance on the import of copper coins of 2, 1 Sol (from Pondichery mint)
  - 18.12.1723: Ordinance on the immediate ban of the Pondicherry coinage.
• 08.02.1739
• Rating of foreign coins:
  - Spanish Dollar (8 Spanish Real in silver) at 3⅗ Mascarenes Livres (= 72 Sols)
  - South Indian Pagoda (Gold) at 1¼ Mascarenes Livres (= 25 Sols)
  - South Indian Fanam (Silber) at 4½ Mascarenes Sols.
• ??.??.1764
• Issuance of paper money by the French East India Society
  - 14.06.1764: Ordinance on the demonetization of the French East India Society paper money
• ??.12.1766
• Rating of the Spanish Dollar (8 Spanish Real in silver) at 5³⁄₁₀ Mascarenes Livres (= 106 Sols)
• 1766-1793
• Issuance of (increasingly inflationary) paper money by the colonial government:
  - ??.12.1766: Issuance of paper money of 3, 2, 1, ½ Mascarenes Livres
  - ??.07.1768: Issuance of paper money of 24, 12, 6, 3 Mascarenes Livres
  - ??.09.1771: Issuance of paper money of 500, 100, 20, 6 Mascarenes Livres
  - 10.06.1788: Issuance of paper money of 1'000 - 2½ Mascarenes Livres
  - 28.07.1790: Issuance of paper money of 10'000, 1'000 Mascarenes Livres
  - 11.04.1793: Further issuance of paper money
• 05.11.1771
• Rating of the Spanish Dollar (8 Spanish Real in silver) at 6 Mascarenes Livres (= 120 Sols)
• 1779-1781
• Issuance of subsidiary coins:
  xx.08.1779: First issue of a coin of 3 Mascarenes Sols
  - xx.03.1781: First issue of a coin of 3 Mascarenes Sols.
• xx.03.1781
• Rating of the Spanish Dollar (8 Spanish Real in silver) at 10 Mascarenes Livres (= 200 Sols)
• 10.11.1781
• Rating of the Spanish Dollar (8 Spanish Real in silver) at 5²⁄₅ French Livres for all colonies
• around 1808
• Demonetization of the inflationary paper money at a rate of 10'000 Mascarenes Livres = 5 French Livres (in silver)
• 08.03.1810
• Ordinance (by Governor Charles M.I. DeCaen) on a currency reform and introduction of a 2nd Mascarenes Livre in the bimetallic standard (AU : AG = 16.188); effective immediately but not implemented due to the British occupation:
  - Rate: 1 Mascarenes Livre (1810) = 2'000 Mascarenes Livres (1723, paper)
  - Gold: 36⁴⁄₇ Pistols of 40 Livres to the Paris mark gold 20 carats (Livre = 137.81mg AU fine)
  - Silver: 9¹⁄₇ Piastres of 10 Livres to the Paris mark silver 10 deniers (Livre = 2'230.82mg AG fine).
  - Only a few pieces of the Piastre of 10 Livres in silver could be produced and issued.

Timeline

• 02.10.1816
• Royal ordinance on the issuance of a subsidiary coin of 10 Cents (to the French Franc); effective immediately:
  - 10.04.1850: Local ordinance, devaluated the 1816 subsidiary from 10 Cents to 7½ Cents; effective immediately
  - 30.04.1879: Local ordinance, demonetized he 1816 subsidiary coin now rated at 7½ Cents; effective ??.??.1879
• 15.10.1826
• Royal ordinance on the exclusive use of French currency for payments to authorities; effective 14.02.1827
• 24.02.1828
• Local ordinance on the demonetization of the 1779-1781 subsidiary coins of 3 Sols; effective ??.??.1828

Timeline

• 16.07.1839
• Local ordinance on the introduction of the Franc accounting; effective immediately
  - Rating: Sicca Rupee (Bengal) = 2.50 French Francs; Spanish Dollar = 5.40 French Francs.
• 30.04.1849
• French law on the creation of colonial banks in the Caribbean and Africa for the facilitation of the compensation of settlers for the abolition of slavery; effective immediately
• 11.07.1851
• French law on the constitution of colonial banks in Guadeloupe, Guiana, Martinique and Réunion (after 23.12.1851 subject to the 1849 law on colonial banks) with an issuance privilege for paper money (extended twice until 1874); the Bank of Réunion in Saint-Denis opened for business on 01.07.1853
• 1859-1879
• Unauthorized import and circulation of demonetized Austrian silver coins of 20 Kreuzer for use as 1 Franc:
  - 11.07.1859: Government permitted the landowner Gabriel Le Coat de Kervéguen to import 227'000 coins (metal value: 0.866 Franc); subsequently, Kervéguen (and others) imported up to a million pieces without authorization
  - 10.05.1879: Ordinance on the withdrawal of all 20 Kreuzer pieces within 20 days
  - ??.06.1879: Government resolution on the restitution of all collected 20 Kreuzer pieces (Kervéguen originally had agreed to take back only the original 227'000 pieces, but in July 1879, a court sentenced him to compensate the government for all collected pieces).
• 24.06.1874
• Law on the reform of the charters of the French colonial banks renewing the 20 years' privilege for the issuance of colonal paper money; effective 11.09.1874 (extended regularly and made unlimited from 01.01.1902 onward):
  - The Bank of Réunion started banknote issuance in 1890.
• 02.04.1879
• Local ordinance on the demonetization of all foreign coinage; effective 31.05.1879
• 02.05.1879
• Local ordinance on the issuance of paper money of 3, 2, 1, ½ Franc by the Colonial Treasury; implemented by ordinance of 04.06.1884
• 17.01.1897
• Local ordinance on the issuance of metallic tokens of 1, ½ Franc replacing the 1884 paper money; effective immediately
• 27.03.1898
• ocal ordinance on the demonetization of the 1884 paper money; effective 25.04.1899
• around 1920
• Issuance of metallic emergency tokens by the Chamber of Commerce of Réunion (at Saint-Denis)

Valuation Regimes

• 1839-1945
• Identical to the French Franc (1795), the convertibility of the Réunion paper money was limited

Timeline

• 25.12.1945
• Ordinance [No. 45-0135] on the creation of two French colonial currencies (CFA Franc for Africa and CFP Pranc for the Pacific); effective immediately:
  - The ordinance was informally applied to Réunion, as well, although the colonial status ended with becoming a French oversees department on 16.03.1946.
• 27.05.1950
• French finance law [No. 50-586], §28 authorizes the issuance of subsidiary coins to the Reunion Franc; effective immediately.
• 07.01.1959
• Ordinance [No. 59-74] on the establishment a joint issuing institute for the overseas departments (Guyana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Réunion); effective immediately
• 14.09.1962
• Ordinance [No. 62-1093] on the implementation of the French currency reform of 1958 in the Caribbean overseas departments Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique; not applicable to Réunion.
  - Around 1967, paper money was issued for Réunion with overprinted denominations in "New Franc" at 50 Réunion Francs.

Valuation Regimes

• 1945-1948
• Fixed rate against French Franc (1795)
• 1948-1949
• Fixed rate against British Pound
• 1949-1958
• Fixed rate against French Franc (1795)
• 1958-1974
• Fixed rate against French Franc (1958)

Timeline

• 28.12.1974
• French finance law [No. 74-1114] on the transfer of the money issuance privilege from the Currency Institute for the French Overseas Departments to the Bank of France; effective 31.12.1974
• 01.01.1975
• Start of currency exchange:
  - 01.01.1975: Start of issuance of French banknotes and coins
  - 31.03.1975: End of exchange period and demonetization of the former currency.