France 1601-D 1/2 franc
This specimen was lot 74649 in Stack's Bowers Collectors Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, September 2025), where it sold for $192. The catalog description[1] noted, "FRANCE. 1/2 Franc, 1601-D. Lyon Mint. Henry IV. PCGS EF-40. From the Richard August Collection." The specimen shown is a demi-franc of Henry IV of France (r. 1589-1610) struck by the hammer at the Toulouse mint (mintmark "M") in 1596-1610. Each mint seems to have used a slightly different bust of the king. Sombart lists six known for this date, making it an uncommon date of a common mint. Three quarts de franc are reported for 1601-D.
Recorded mintage: 48,783 including quarts de franc
Specification: 7.09 g, 0.833 fine silver.
Catalog reference: Sb 4778, Dupl-1212A; Ciani-1539.
- 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.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, May 2025 World Collectors Choice Online Auction: Ancient & World Coins, featuring selections from the Sydney F. Martin Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2025.
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