Skip to content
  • FR
FR
  • About us
    Building, illuminated glass towers on either side of an old, square, stone building.

    About us

    We're here to help you understand what the Bank of Canada does and how it matters to you.

    About the Bank of Canada

    Find out what the Bank does, who runs the Bank and how it is separate from the political process.

    Connect with us

    We’d love to hear from you! Contact us by email, phone or mail—or join us on social media.

  • Visit

    Visit

    • Plan your visit
    • Accessibility and special needs
    • Code of conduct
    • COVID-19 protocols

    Sensory Sundays

    We’re turning down the lights and the volume for our sensory-sensitive visitors—explore the Museum using more than eyes and ears.

    Connect with us

    We’d love to hear from you! Contact us by email, phone or mail—or join us on social media.

  • Explore

    Exhibitions

    • Permanent exhibition
    • Special exhibitions
    • Travelling exhibitions
    • Past exhibitions

    Blog

    Collection

    • About the Collection
    • Collection Services
    • Canadian Bank Notes Series
    • Search the Collection

    New acquisitions—2024 edition

    Bank of Canada Museum’s acquisitions in 2024 highlight the relationships that shape the National Currency Collection.

  • Learn

    Learn

    • Activities and games
    • Education blog
    • External resources
    • Lesson plans
    • School programs
    • Video discussion guides
    • Upcoming webinars

    Budgets: Math for life

    Students will use math skills to create a budget for a class event or activity.

    You are the economy

    A set of six lessons to explore economics with your students.

  • Home
  • The Museum Blog

Coins from a nation that wasn’t: Araucania and Patagonia

By: David Bergeron


March 31, 2017
Share this page on Facebook
Share this page on Facebook
Share this page on X
Share this page on X
Share this page on LinkedIn
Share this page on LinkedIn
Share this page on Google Classroom Created with Sketch.
Share this page on Google Classroom
Share this page by email
Share this page by email

By David Bergeron, Curator

open air meeting / assemblée en plein air

D’Antoine de Tounens in a meeting with the Mapuche people of Patagonia. (Wikimedia Commons, Jules Peco?)

It is not unusual for “micro-nations”— city-states, principalities or minor kingdoms—to produce their own currency. Having a national currency is one way that a fledgling nation can promote its independence—sometimes before there even is a nation. But this coin, from a purely conceptual country in South America, is most intriguing for the history it now represents: the attempt of an indigenous people to establish their own nation in the face of colonization. Even more intriguing, what’s stamped on the coin implies this imaginary nation had already been colonized–by France.

Antique map / ancienne carte

Patagonia from the survey by the British ships Adventure and Beagle. (Wikimedia Commons, John Arrowsmith, 1842)

In the middle of the 19th century, a French lawyer and adventurer named d’Antoine de Tounens became fascinated by the Mapuche people of the Patagonia region of South America. The Mapuche were struggling to protect their ancestral lands, their identity and their culture from colonial expansion by the governments of Chile and Argentina. De Tounens went to Chile in 1858 to meet the Mapuche, whom he admired for what he regarded as their heroic resistance, and took up their campaign for self‑determination and sovereignty. In co-operation with their leaders, de Tounens drafted a constitution for “Araucania and Patagonia”, a region located in the southern half of modern Chile and Argentina. They declared the district a kingdom and de Tounens was named as its first monarch. The Chilean government arrested him in 1862, put him on trial and declared him insane. Narrowly avoiding execution, de Tounens was deported to France.

The National Currency Collection possesses three 2-centavo coins minted for Araucania and Patagonia in 1874. What is so curious about these coins is that they claim this potential nation for France. The legend on the reverse reads “NOUVELLE FRANCE / DOS / CENTAVOS / 1874". De Tounens appeared to have baptized the nation as part of New France, yet this designation is seen nowhere else but on the coins. The coins don’t originate from South America but by some accounts may have been struck, presumably at de Tounens’ request, in Belgium.

 

coin / pièce

Araucania and Patagonia, 1874, 2 centavos pattern, obverse. (NCC 1974.151.3079a1)

coin / pièce

Araucania and Patagonia, 1874, 2 centavos pattern, reverse. (NCC 1974.151.3079b1)

De Tounens intended to take the coins back with him to Patagonia to help re-establish his kingdom. Although he returned and failed on several occasions, a number of countries did choose to recognize his fledgling state. But it was not to be. In 1878, Orélie-Antoine de Tounens (as his magisterial name was) died in France as the exiled King of Araucania and Patagonia. A successor to the office of Royal Highness to the Crown of Araucania and Patagonia (in exile) still lives in France today–Prince Antoine IV.

We want to hear from you! Do you have an idea for a blog post you’d like to see?
Content type(s): Blog posts

Subscribe to The Museum Blog
The Museum Blog

November 27, 2023

Mo’ money, mo’ questions

By: Heather Montgomery


But what do you do with money once you have it? That’s for you to decide. A budget can really help. It will allow you to keep track of what you earn (income) and what you spend (expenses).
Content type(s): Blog posts Subject(s): Financial literacy Grade level(s): Grade 04, Grade 05, Grade 06, Grade 07 / Secondary 1, Grade 08 / Secondary 2, Grade 09 / Secondary 3, Grade 10 / Secondary 4, Grades 11 and 12 / Secondary 5 and CEGEP
November 16, 2023

Understanding cryptocurrencies

By: Graham Iddon


Un circuit imprimé d’un ordinateur avec des dizaines de circuits et un ventilateur.
Most of us are aware of them, but how much do we really understand about cryptocurrencies?
Content type(s): Blog posts Subject(s): Economy, Financial literacy Grade level(s): Grade 08 / Secondary 2, Grade 09 / Secondary 3, Grade 10 / Secondary 4, Grades 11 and 12 / Secondary 5 and CEGEP
September 12, 2023

A checkup on cheques

By: David Bergeron


Photo, a tabletop with several printed paper forms and hand-written documents plus a bank card.  
With the continuing rise of e-transfers and electronic payments, people have been predicting the death of the humble cheque for decades. But it hasn’t happened yet.
Content type(s): Blog posts
July 31, 2023

The Scenes of Canada series $100 bill

By: Graham Iddon


Few of us ever get a chance to see a Scenes of Canada $100 bill. Which is a pity, because it is an example of great bank note design with even greater imagery by a master engraver.
Content type(s): Blog posts Subject(s): History
July 13, 2023

Caring for your bank notes

By: Graham Iddon


Collecting paper money seems simple enough. But, paper is delicate stuff and demands a gentle touch.
Content type(s): Blog posts
May 3, 2023

Teaching math using money

By: Jonathan Jerome


From skip counting to making change, working with money is a great way for students to practice math skills.
Content type(s): Blog posts Subject(s): Economy, Financial literacy, Math Grade level(s): Early childhood / Kindergarten, Grade 01, Grade 02
April 4, 2023

Caring for your coins

By: Graham Iddon


Coin collecting can be a fun and fascinating hobby. But there are a few things you should know to keep your collection safe and in good condition. Because coins aren’t as robust as you might imagine.
Content type(s): Blog posts
  • « Previous
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 23
  • Next »
Go To Page

30 Bank Street
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0G9, CANADA
613‑782‑8914

  • Things to do

  • Plan your visit
  • Find educational resources
  • Search the Collection
  • Connect with us
  • Things to see

  • Canadian bank notes
  • Exhibitions
  • Blog
  • Videos
  • Things to know

  • Accessibility and special needs
  • Careers
  • Code of conduct
  • COVID-19 protocols
  • Privacy
  • Social media
●●
Bank of Canada Museum

Visit the Bank of Canada web site ›

We use cookies to help us keep improving this website.

Accept and continue