France (1498) 1/2 ecu d'or Fr-324

Heritage sale 61253, lot 99091

This specimen was lot 99091 in Heritage sale 61253 (Dallas, January 2022), where it sold for $3,600. The catalog description^[1] noted,

"France: Louis XII (1498-1514) gold 1/2 Ecu d'Or au soleil ND (from 1498) MS61 NGC, Toulouse mint (annulet below 5th letter). Emission from 25 April 1498. (lis) LVDOVICVS (uncertain punctuation) D: G: FRACORVm: RЄX (double annulet stops), crowned royal arms of France with sun above / (lis) XPS: VICIT: XPS: RЄGnΛT (Є retrograde): XPS: IPЄR (double annulet stops). A generally more challenging fractional gold issue to locate without serious conditional problems such as bending, the flan slightly undersized, though noticeably even."

This coin was issued before the modern system of mintmarks was introduced by Francis I in 1540. Prior to that date, mints used various secret marks to identify and date their product. This otherwise undated and unmintmarked coin is thereby noted as being produced by the Toulouse mint (later mintmark "M") in 1498. This coin had a face value of 18 sols and 1½ deniers tournois. The half écu d'or is much scarcer than the full écu d'or.

Recorded mintage: unknown but scarce.

Specification: 1.75 g, 0.963 fine gold; this specimen 1.72 g.

Catalog reference: Fr-324, Ciani-901, Dupl-648.

Source:

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]Cristiano Bierrenbach, Warren Tucker and Sam Spiegel, The Brittany Collection of French Coins Showcase Auction #61253, Dallas, TX: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2021.

Link to:

France (1498) 1/2 ecu d'or Fr-324

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