Castorland Medals – 1796

1796 Castorland Medals – Remnants of a Doomed Colony

In 1792 a group of French aristocratic investors, backed by Swiss bankers and creditors purchased 630,000 acres of land in upstate New York. There they planned to create a French colony for the upper-class families escaping the concerns of the French Revolution. It is ironic that such a plan was hatched as American patriots were deeply indebted to the French military and French patriots who came to America to help America win its independence from England.

The official seal of this venture depicted a beaver chewing on a tree. The name Castorland emerged from the fact that “Castor” is French for beaver. The first settlers of this venture arrived in 1793 and built two different adjoining towns on that parcel of land.   

The company placed an order with the Paris Mint to strike Gold, Silver and Copper coins for use in Castorland and by 1796, the dies had been created and coins had been struck in all three metals.

The obverse has an allegorical depiction of Cybele, the classical goddess of fertility and the wilderness. She is seen facing the left, wearing a natural crown, depicting her as the protector from all harm. The legend around the periphery reads, “FRANCO-AMERICANA COLONIA” which translates to the French American Colony. There are the initials DUV below, standing for Duvivier, the designer. The name CASTORLAND and the date 1796 are in exergue at the bottom.

On the reverse of the medals was depicted Ceres, the Roman goddess of grain and the harvest, She is holding a cornucopia in her right hand and a drill for tapping maple trees in her left hand. Behind her is a maple tree is being tapped for syrup. At her feet is a sickle and a sheaf of wheat and there is a legend around the periphery “SALVE MAGNA PARENS FRUGUM” which translated to ‘Hail great mother of the crops.’ There is a beaver in the exergue at the bottom. This issue was minted as a medal for it bears no denomination and both the obverse and reverse are oriented to 12:00 o’clock.

The medals were struck in Silver, Gold and Copper, with and without reeded edges and edge markings

The Paris Mint – Monnaie de Paris – has, over two centuries, struck numerous restrikes in all three metals, which can be dated by the symbols on the edge of the coin.

The Colony suffered during the severe winters in 1794 and 1795 and many families and animals did not survive. But that was not the only disaster to befall the Colony. In June of 1796, one of the tradesmen employed by the Colony stole all of the Company’s money, used to keep the Colony running and to pay its debts. Families sold off animals and property to pay their individual debts and life became harder than these upper-class families had ever imagined. 

After those disasters, the Colony suffered a slow decline. But by 1814, the Swiss bankers and creditors had seized all of their remaining assets and sold them to American colonists and land speculators in order to recoup any portion of their sizeable investment.

Castorland was no more.

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