France 1605-C 1/4 ecu
This specimen was lot 72177 in Stack's Bowers Collectors Choice Online Auction (Santa Ana, CA, May 2017), where it did not sell. The catalog description[1] noted, "FRANCE. 1/4 Ecu, 1605-C. Saint Lo Mint. Henry IV (1589-1610). NGC EF-45. Nice round flan with full legends on both sides." This specimen was struck by the hammer at St.-Lô in Normandy 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. Duplessy notes this type for the St.-Lô and Rennes mints. It varies from the design used at other mints by having crowns at the ends of the cross rather than fleurs-de-lys.
Recorded mintage: 171,241.
Specification: 9.71 g, 0.917 fine silver.
Catalog reference: KM-28, Duplessy 1230, Sb-4682.
- 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]Ponterio, Rick, et al., The May 2017 Collector's Choice Sale, Santa Ana, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2017.
Link to:
- 1604-L quart d'écu
- 1605-L huitième d'écu, croix feuillue de face
- 1605 huitième d'écu du Béarn, Morlaas mint
- 1605-I demi-franc
- 1605-9 quart d'écu
- 1605 quart d'écu du Béarn, Morlaas mint
- 1606-C quart d'écu, croix batonnée et couronnée de face
- 1606-G quart d'écu
- 1606 quart d'écu du Béarn, Pau mint
- 1607-T quart d'écu au marteau
- Coins and currency dated 1605
- return to French royal coinage (to 1793)