In 1685 soldiers in New France were paid in playing cards.

1685

When the pay ship from Paris was late, the intendant cut up cards, signed them and issued them as money; they circulated in Canada for decades.

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The event

• Champlain founds Quebec1608 · Quebec City, Canada. On 3 July 1608 Samuel de Champlain founded a fortified fur-trading post on the St. Lawrence River. Only 8 of the 28 settlers survived the first winter. Quebec became the capital of New France, which stretched to the Great Lakes and the Mississippi. It is one of North America's oldest cities, and French has been spoken there for more than four centuries.

17th century

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