France 1605-Mor 1/4 ecu

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Künker sale 293, lot 1836

This specimen was lot 1836 in Künker sale 293 (Osnabrück, Germany, July 2017), where it sold for €60 (about US$81 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,

"FRANKREICH, KÖNIGREICH, Henri IV, 1589-1610. 1/4 Ecu de Béarn 1605, DB (übereinandergelegt), Morlaàs. Schrötlingsfehler, sehr schön. Exemplar der Slg. Bernhard Terletzki. (kingdom of France, Henry IV, 1589-1610, quarter écu of Béarn, Morlaàs mint. Edge cracks, very fine.)"

This specimen was struck by the hammer at Morlaàs 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. Duplessy notes this type for the Pau and Morlaàs mints. It varies from the design used at other mints by impaling the fleurs-de-lys with the chains of Navarre and the cow of Béarn.

Recorded mintage: 156,292, a slightly scarce date.

Specification: 9.71 g, 0.917 fine silver.

Catalog reference: Sb 4706 (8 ex.), Duplessy 1240.

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.
  • Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
  • [1]Künker Münzauktionen und Goldhandel, Katalog 293: Münzen aus Mittelalter und Neuzeit u. a. die westfälischen Privatsammlungen Werner Bröker und Bernd Terletzki, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2017.

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