About us

About us

Le30sou inc. is a family business. We are numismatists with a wide range of interests in both ancient and modern coins. At Le30Sou, our expertise is established in the collectible coin trade which includes errors, varieties, banknotes, medals, scripts, tokens, numismatic literature and collector's accessories. Le30Sou is a member of the Ottawa Numismatic Society (ONS) and the Royal Numismatic Association of Canada (RNAC).

Why did you choose the name Le 30sou for the company?

First of all, where does the phrase come from? << Four thirty cents for a piaster >>. Under the French colonies, you could find many forms of currency circulating in Upper and Lower Canada. The PIASTRE had been circulating since the sixteenth century and made its way to the Americas. Under the British sterling system of currency in the 19th century, 120 cents equaled 5 shillings or 1 crown. One crown (120 cents) divided into 4 was 30 cents.

In the early 19th century, to facilitate trade with the United States, the British decided that 1 Dollar would equal 1 Crown. The word piastre was used by French Canadians as the common name for the dollar. Thus, for French Canadians, four thirty cents would be equivalent to one dollar (piastre or crown).

In 1858, the new Canadian government adopted decimal currency like our American neighbors. Our Canadian monetary system has remained the same ever since (100 cents to the dollar). To this day, French-speaking Canadians continue to use 30 sous to designate a 25-cent coin.

You can see how complex the exchange system was in Canada by looking closely at this 1837 merchant's script. There are four different currencies identified on this one note (30 cents, 2 reals, 15 pence and quarter).

We chose Le30sou as our company name as a recognition of our French Canadian heritage.