4. Beaumarchais provided the Continental Congress with badly needed coinage
During his stay in London, Beaumarchais purchased gold and silver in the form of Spanish and Portuguese coins, anticipating fluctuations in the value of paper currency. In the early spring of 1776, he was called to Paris by Vergennes and tasked with supervising the delivery of assistance to the Americans. He suggested sending the Continental Congress 500,000 livres in hard money, as backing for the paper currency the cash-strapped Americans were then issuing. Beaumarchais offered the coinage he had purchased as part of the monetary assistance. Another 500,000 livres were to be used to purchase military supplies to be sent to the Americans.
Vergennes, supported by the French minister of war, Claude Louis, the Comte de St. Germain, didn’t like the idea of sending money directly to Congress. He argued it would be a violation of French neutrality. Both Vergennes and St. Germain were already convinced direct military action by the French against the British was inevitable. They wanted to rebuild the French Army and Navy in preparation for war. Beaumarchais’ money was better used, in their view, purchasing “surplus” munitions from French arsenals, and shipping them to customers in America. The French treasury was then used to purchase new munitions from factories in France.