France 1578-M ecu d'or

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Heritage sale 61352, lot 22084
image courtesy Heritage Auction Galleries

This specimen was lot 22084 in Heritage sale 61352 (Dallas, December 2023), where it sold for $2,640. The catalog description[1] noted, "France: Henri III gold Ecu d'Or 1578/6-M MS61 NGC, Toulouse mint. A captivating and flashy offering rarely encountered so fine, with examples of this date confidently Mint State coming to market once every year or so. Ex. iNumis Sale 16 (October 2011, lot 399)." 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: 32,200 including a few demi-écus.

Specification: 3.37 g, 0.958 fine gold, plain edge.

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

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]Cristiano Bierrenbach, Warren Tucker and Sam Spiegel, 2023 December 10 Spotlight: France World Coins Showcase Auction #61352, Dallas, TX: Heritage Auctions, 2023.

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