After two initial voyages to Canada, between 1535 and 1536, French navigator Jacques Cartier set out in 1541 to found a permanent French colony in Canada. He was aided in this venture by Jean-François de la Roque de Roberval. The two navigators and some 1,500 colonists settled at Cap-Rouge, now a suburb of Québec City. After two disastrous winters of deep freeze, hunger and conflict with Indigenous Peoples, the colony was abandoned in 1543. Browse these many images to discover Charlesbourg-Royal, the first and then abandoned French colony in Québec City.
Coin token found in the Cartier-Roberval archaeological dig
Émilie Deschênes
In the 16th century, the French monetary system used multiple currencies and tokens produced throughout Europe. Made in Nuremberg, Germany, this jeton was brought to the Charlesbourg-Royal colony. On one side, it displays a Germanic orb symbol (a sphere topped by a cross), which is a royal insignia.
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