Sesel Sa! January - March 2015 Jan - March 2015 | Page 30

Seychelle s cur rency
The

The history of Seychelles has always been closely
intertwined with the concept of money. Even
before the islands were inhabited it was thought
that certain nefarious personages were using
the archipelago for ‘banking’ purposes. Up until
today the idea of finding buried treasure is still
alive and well amongst the local population.
ROUPI SESEL

The currency of the Seychelles is the rupee and it is
not to be confused with the rupee currency of other
countries. This one has an international currency code
of SCR and it is subdivided into 100 cents but where
does it stem from?

FROM THE BEGINNING (1770 TO 1814)

According to my secondary school history booklet,
there is evidence that the Seychelles were discovered
“as far back as 200 -300 AD by Malays” and there
is proof in a manuscript from “AD 851 that Arab
merchants also knew of the islands” however they did
not choose to settle, the islands were more of a “driveby" shopping centre. The booklet explains that the
first settlers were actually French colonists who came
in 1770, they landed and settled on Ste. Anne Island
with their slaves and in total there were twenty-eight
people, they consisted of 15 French, 7 slaves, 5 Indians
and one woman, a Negress under the command of a
Delaunay.
The Central Bank of Seychelles explains that during
this time, which is termed the French period, the
currency was mostly metal coins. As per usual the
coins were made in the name of the French King Louis
XVI and they were valued as Louis d’or, demi-Louis
d’or, Louis d’argent or Ecu, quart-Ecu, and demi-Ecu.
Interestingly though, they also state that the main
transactions used the Livre Tournois which was made
out of silver, this was later replaced by another coin
called the Franc Germinal.

AND THEN THE BRITISH OVERTHREW THE
FRENCH (1815 TO 1976)

According to secondary school history the British
contested control for the islands between 1794
and 1810. McActeer (1990) tells us that the French
administrator of Seychelles during the years of
war with the United Kingdom was a Jean Baptiste
Quéau de Quincy. One can only assume that he
had no desire to have his work destroyed because

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SESEL SA! | JAN - MAR 2015 ISSUE NO. 6