France 1571-B ecu d'or
This specimen was lot 45837 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Chicago, August 2024), where it sold for $480. The catalog description[1] noted, "FRANCE. Ecu d'or Au Soleil, 1571-B. Rouen Mint. Charles IX. Grade: VERY FINE Details--Cleaned." 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. This type was the standard gold coin of France prior to the introduction of the milled louis d'or in 1641. Sombart[2] reports 15 examples known plus one demi-écu d'or, making this a common date. In Sombart's book, Rouen is the second commonest mint (103 examples) after Paris (125 ex.).
Recorded mintage: 35,100, including a few demi-écus d'or[2].
Specification: 3.37 g, .958 fine gold, plain edge, this specimen 3.29 g.
Catalog reference: Sb-4904, Fr-378; Dupl-1057; Ci-1343.
- 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]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, August 2024 Global Showcase Auction, World & Ancient Coins, featuring The Emilio M. Ortiz Collection, The Richard Margolis Collection and The Rutherford Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2024.
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