France (1494) ecu d'or Fr-318
This specimen was lot 22488 in Stack's Bowers NYINC sale (New York, January 2020), where it sold for $660. The catalog description[1] noted, "FRANCE. Ecu d'Or, ND (1483-98). Bayonne Mint. Charles VIII. NGC AU-58. A well struck gold ecu, slightly off center with good detail on the central devices." This écu d'or au soleil was issued for Charles VIII from numerous mints. Most of the mints placed a quadrilobe at the center of the cross but Perpignan used a "P". This is marked as a product of the Bayonne mint by an anchor in front of "KAROLVS". Two types exist; the first emission lacked the "REX" at the end of the reverse legend. Duplessy notes that the face value was 36 sols, 3 deniers tournois. This is from the second emission of July 1494.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 3.49 g, 0.983 fine gold, this specimen 3.39 g.
Catalog reference: Fr-318; Dupl-575a.
- Duplessy, Jean, Les Monnaies Françaises Royales de Hugues Capet à Louis XVI (987-1793), Tome I, 2e édition, Paris: Maison Platt, 1999.
- Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Richard Ponterio and Kyle Ponterio, The January 2020 NYINC Sale: Ancient Coins, World Coins & Paper Money, Santa Ana, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2019.
Link to:
- (1483) écu d'or au soleil, Angers mint
- (1483)-B écu d'or au soleil, Bourges mint
- (1483) écu d'or au soleil, Tournai mint
- (1494) demi-écu d'or au soleil
- (1494) écu d'or au soleil, Limoges mint
- (1494)-P écu d'or au soleil, Perpignan mint
- Coins and currency dated 1494
- return to French royal coinage (to 1793)