1 Sou - Ile Bourbon

The 1 Sou from Ile Bourbon featured the French coat of arms on its reverse, a bold assertion of colonial authority on a coin as small as a modern bottle cap.

That design choice reflected Paris's effort to impose order on an island economy dominated by trade winds and smuggled goods. Struck in copper at the Paris Mint, these coins reached Reunion via long sea voyages, arriving with the patina of adventure already etched in.

Exact mintage figures are murky; records from the era were as unreliable as the ships that carried them. What we know is that production ramped up after 1815, tapering off as the island's name shifted to Reunion in the 1840s.

Some numismatists quip that these sous were the original frequent flyers, crossing oceans before most coins saw a pocket.