France 1589-A ecu d'or Fr-386
This specimen was lot 141 in Sedwick Treasure Auction 21 (Winter Park, FL, May 2017), where it sold for $1,880. The catalog description[1] noted, "France (Paris mint), ecu, Henry III, 1589-A, encapsulated NGC MS 63. Choice grade with sharp details except for weak spots in legends, clear 89 of date and full king's name and ordinal III. NGC #4438968-006." This coin is called the écu d'or au soleil in Duplessy[2] with a face value of fifty sols tournois and is noted with many variations in obverse and reverse legends. This variety has the obverse legend ("HENRICVS") starting at the bottom whereas on Dupl-1121, the obverse elegend starts at the top. This type was the standard gold coin of France prior to the introduction of the milled louis d'or in 1641. Friedberg divides this type by the location of the mintmark, where Fr-388 has the mintmark in the center of the reverse.
Recorded mintage: 55,100[3].
Specification: 3.37 g, 0.958 fine gold, plain edge.
Catalog reference: Sb 4932, Fr-386, Dupl-1121A.
- [2]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]Sedwick, Daniel F., Augi Garcia and Cori Sedwick Downing, Treasure Auction #21, featuring Selections from the Richard Stuart Collection, Winter Park, FL: Daniel Frank Sedwick, LLC, 2017.
- [3]Sombart, Stéphan, Franciae IV: Catalogue des Monnaies Royales Françaises de François Ier à Henri IV (1540-1610), Paris: Éditions les Chevau-légers, 1997.
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