France 1607-StP 1/4 ecu

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Stack's Bowers February 2023 Collector's Choice sale, lot 73003
SB223-73003r.jpg

This specimen was lot 73003 in Stack's Bowers Collector's Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, February 2023), where it sold for $240. The catalog description[1] noted, "FRANCE. 1/4 Ecu, 1607. Saint Palais Mint. Henry IV. NGC AU-50. Some light wear barely grazes the high points and fields on this well preserved Ecu of Navarre. Rich and consistent gunmetal gray cabinet patina adorns both faces, but this does not obstruct the shine of rather glossy surfaces." This specimen was struck by the hammer at St-Palais in Bearn 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. 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. Reverse legend: GRATIA.DEI.SVM.ID.Q.SVM = "By the grace of God, I am what I am."

Recorded mintage: unknown.

Specification: 9.71 g, 0.917 fine silver, 26-31 mm diameter, plain edge or no edge.

Catalog reference: Sb 4710, KM 1.1?, Duplessy 1238, Ciani 1519.

Source:

  • Duplessy, Jean, Les Monnaies Françaises Royales de Hugues Capet à Louis XVI (987-1793), Tome II, 2e édition, Paris: Maison Platt, 1999.
  • Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
  • 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, February 2023 World Collectors Choice Online Auction, featuring the David Sterling Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2023.

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