France 1578-G ecu d'or

From CoinVarieties
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Sincona Auction 103, lot 482

This specimen was lot 482 in Sincona Auction 103 (Zürich, May 2026), where it sold for 900 CHF (about US$1,372 including buyers' fees). The catalog description[1] noted,

"FRANKREICH Königreich und Republik, Henri III. 1574-1589. Ecu d'or au soleil 1578 G, Poitiers. Gutes sehr schön. Knapper Schrötling. Leicht gereinigt. (kingdom of France, Henry III, 1574-89, gold écu of the sunburst of 1578, Poitiers mint. Good Very Fine, Small flan, Slightly 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. Four major variations exist: type 1 (Sb 4924), with "P·REX" in the king's title; type 2 (Sb 4928), with the king's titles starting at the top; type 3 (Sb 4932, shown here), with the king's title starting at the bottom, and type 4 (Sb 4936) with the king's title on the cross side. Sombart[2] reports sixteen known of this date (most common date).

Recorded mintage: 20,093[2].

Specification: 3.37 g, 0.958 fine gold, plain edge, this specimen 3.19 g.

Catalog reference: Sb 4932, Duplessy 1121, Fr-386.

Source:

  • 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]Richter, Jürg, Michael Hardmeier, Michael Otto, Arne Kirsch, Ruedi Kunzmann and Timur Demirai, SINCONA Auction 103: World and Swiss coins and medals, Zürich: SINCONA AG, 2026.

Links to:

Retrieved from "https://coinvarieties.com/index.php?title=France_1578-G_ecu_d%27or&oldid=647228"