France (1519)-Lyon ecu d'or Fr-345
This specimen was lot 1063 in Jean Elsen sale 141 (Brussels, June 2019), where it sold for €360 (about US$477 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"FRANCE, Royaume, François Ier (1515-1547), AV écu d'or au soleil, 3e émission (juillet 1519), point 12e, Lyon. 5e type. D/ Ecu de France couronné sous un soleil. R/ Croix fleurdelisée portant un quadrilobe en coeur, cantonnée de deux F et de deux lis. Fines griffes. Très Beau à Superbe. (kingdom of France, Francis I, 1515-47, undated gold shield of the sunburst, third emission (July 1519), Lyon mint, fifth type. Obverse: crowned arms of France beneath a sunburst; reverse: floriate cross with a quadrilobe at the center, cantonned with two "F's" and two lilies. Fine scratches, Very Fine - Extremely Fine.)"
The écu d'or was tariffed in France at 36 sols, 3 deniers tournois in 1515 and raised to 40 sols tournois in 1519. A demi-écu d'or also exists.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 3.43 g, 0.958 fine gold, this specimen 3,40 g.
Catalog reference: Fr-345, Dupl-775; Ci. 1073; Laf. 639.
- Duplessy, Jean, Les Monnaies Françaises Royales de Hugues Capet à Louis XVI (987-1793), Tome II, 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]Elsen, Philippe, et al., Vente Publique 141, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils, S.A., 2019.
Link to:
- (1519) demi-écu d'or au soleil, Toulouse mint
- (1519) écu d'or au soleil, Paris mint, two crowned "F's" and two coronets
- (1519) écu d'or au soleil, Paris mint, two "F's" and two lilies
- (1519)-B écu d'or au soleil, Bayonne mint
- (1519-40) écu d'or au soleil de Bretagne
- (1519) écu d'or au soleil, Paris, Rouen and Montpellier mints
- (1535-40) écu d'or au soleil, Bayonne mint
- Coins and currency dated 1519
- return to French royal coinage (to 1793)