France 1570-A ecu d'or
This specimen was lot 22082 in Heritage sale 61352 (Dallas, December 2023), where it sold for $690. The catalog description[1] noted, "France: Charles IX gold Ecu d'Or 1570-A XF45 NGC, Paris mint." This coin is called the écu d'or au soleil in Duplessy with a face value of fifty sols tournois and is noted with many variations in obverse and reverse legends. On this one, the obverse legend starts at the top by the sunburst. This type was the standard gold coin of France prior to the introduction of the milled louis d'or in 1641. This is a fairly common date, with seven reported in Sombart's survey[2].
Recorded mintage: 28,600 including a few demi-écus.
Specification: 3.37 g, .958 fine gold, plain edge.
Catalog reference: Sb-4907, Fr-378, Dupl-1057.
- 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.
- [2]Sombart, Stéphan, Franciae IV: Catalogue des Monnaies Royales Françaises de François Ier à Henri IV (1540-1610), Paris: Éditions les Chevau-légers, 1997.
- [1]Cristiano Bierrenbach, Warren Tucker and Sam Spiegel, 2023 December 10 Spotlight: France World Coins Showcase Auction #61352, Dallas, TX: Heritage Auctions, 2023.
Link to:
- 1569-A écu d'or au soleil, Paris mint
- 1569-B écu d'or au soleil, Rouen mint
- 1569-R écu d'or au soleil, Villenueve mint
- 1570-M demi-teston
- 1570-B écu d'or au soleil, Rouen mint
- 1571-A écu d'or au soleil, Paris mint
- 1571-B écu d'or au soleil, Rouen mint
- Coins and currency dated 1570
- return to French royal coinage (to 1793)