1 Decime – Monaco

In 1838, Monaco’s currency situation was intrinsically tied to its political and economic relationship with the Kingdom of Sardinia. Since the 1815 Congress of Vienna, Monaco had been a protectorate of Sardinia, a status that extended to its monetary system. Consequently, the official legal tender in the principality was the Sardinian lira (also called the Piedmontese scudo), which circulated alongside a limited amount of French and other foreign coins. This arrangement reflected Monaco’s lack of monetary sovereignty and its integration into the economic sphere of its more powerful neighbor.

The local economy, primarily based on agriculture, olive oil, and the modest beginnings of tourism centered around the casino (which had been legalized in 1856, still in the future for 1838), operated within this framework. There was no Monegasque mint, and the principality did not issue its own coins for circulation. Any financial transactions, from trade in the Condamine market to the affairs of the Prince’s household, were conducted using the Sardinian currency. This system provided stability by linking Monaco to a larger, established monetary zone, but it also meant the principality had no independent control over its money supply or valuation.

Looking ahead, this dependency would define Monaco's currency until the early 1860s. The year 1838 thus represents a point of continuity within the Sardinian monetary period, which began in 1815. This era would end with the Treaty of 1861, when French influence replaced Sardinian, leading to the adoption of the French franc. Therefore, the currency situation in 1838 was one of quiet subordination, a financial mirror of Monaco’s political reality as a small state navigating the complex currents of 19th-century European power dynamics.