France 1631-A ecu d'or
This specimen was lot 3065 in Künker sale 264 (Osnabrück, June 2015), where it sold for €650 (about US$840 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"KÖNIGREICH Louis XIII, 1610-1643. Ecu d'or au soleil 1631, A, Paris. GOLD. Leicht gewellt, vorzüglich. (kingdom of France, Louis XIII, 1610-43, écu d'or of the sun of 1631, Paris mint. Lightly bent, extremely fine.)"
Shown is a écu d'or soleil struck at the Paris mint in the last years before the switch to milled coinage in the 1640's. This type was struck at numerous French mints 1611-43, i.e., Louis' entire reign. These coins were usually struck with the hammer and were supposed to be phased out with the introduction of milled coinage in 1640 but écus d'or are known dated as late as 1654. This type was originally worth fifty sols tournois in the sixteenth century, the inflation brought on by the Wars of Religion caused its value to steadily increase. At the time of issue in 1631, the écu d'or was worth 80 sols tournois. By 1636, it had risen to 104 sols tournois.
Recorded mintage: 41,905[2].
Specification: 3.37 g, 0.958 fine gold, designed by Nicholas Briot, this specimen 3.35 g.
Catalog reference: Duplessy 1282; Fr-398; Gadoury 55, Dr/4 № 1.
- [2]Droulers, Frédéric, Répertoire General des Monnaies de Louis XIII à Louis XVI (1610-1792), 4e édition. Paris: AFPN, 2009.
- Duplessy, Jean, Les Monnaies Françaises Royales de Hugues Capet à Louis XVI (987-1793), Tome II, 2e édition, Paris: Maison Platt, 1999.
- Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
- Gadoury, Victor, Monnaies Royales Françaises, 1610-1792, 5me éd., Monaco: Éditions Victor Gadoury, 2018.
- 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, Catalog 264, Gold coins | Russian Coins and Medals | German Coins after 1871, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2015.
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