France 1590-StP 1/4 ecu

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Stack's Bowers November 2023 Collector's Choice sale, lot 73319
SB1123-73319r.jpg

This specimen was lot 73319 in Stack's Bowers Collector's Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, November 2023), where it sold for $216. The catalog description[1] noted, "FRANCE. 1/4 Ecu, 1590. Saint-Palace Mint. Henry IV. PCGS AU-53. Struck for Navarre. The only example of the date in the PCGS census, this barely handled specimen offers an enticing steely gray hue that is further augmented by some toning around the devices and hints of brilliance remaining in the protected areas." This specimen was struck by the hammer at St-Palais in Béarn during the reign of Henry IV, founder of the Bourbon dynasty (1589-1793). This was the largest silver coin regularly struck in France prior to the introduction of milled coinage in the 1640's. It had a face value of fifteen sols tournois. The SCWC lists an expensive quarter écu for St-Palais (KM 31) but these are probably the scarce machine-struck specimens; as the SCWC offers no picture, one cannot be definite.

Recorded mintage: unknown.

Specification: 9.71 g, 0.917 fine silver.

Catalog reference: Dupl-1238; KM-31 (for later dates), Sb 4710 (six examples reported).

Source:

  • Duplessy, Jean, Les Monnaies Françaises Royales de Hugues Capet à Louis XVI (987-1793), Tome II, 2e édition, Paris: Maison Platt, 1999.
  • Roberts, James N., The Silver Coins of Medieval France (476-1610 AD), S. Salem, NY: Attic Books, 1996.
  • 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, November 2023 World Collectors Choice Online Auction - Ancient & World Coins, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2023.

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