France 1637-X ecu d'or
This specimen was lot 20313 in Stack's Bowers NYINC sale (New York, January 2020), where it sold for $1,080. The catalog description[1] noted, "FRANCE. Ecu d'Or, 1637-X. Amiens Mint. Louis XIII. NGC MS-62. The finest of the type in the NGC census, this near choice piece offers a great array of lustrous brilliance along with a fairly sharp strike. A hint of ghosting in the form of the lis is evident on the obverse, but not overly distracting. An overall pleasing specimen." Shown is a écu d'or à la croix torsadée struck at the Amiens 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; it is listed for Amiens 1615-17, 1631-43. The Amiens mint product is distinct in having the mintmark on the obverse instead of placing it in the center of the cross on the reverse, as was usual. 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.
Recorded mintage: 29,411[2], a common date.
Specification: 3.37 g, 0.958 fine gold, designed by Nicholas Briot, this specimen 3.36 g.
Catalog reference: Duplessy 1282 B; Fr-398; KM-41.17; Gad-55, Dr/4 № 1 a.
- [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]Orsini, Matt, Richard Ponterio and Kyle Ponterio, The January 2020 NYINC Sale: Ancient Coins, World Coins & Paper Money, Santa Ana, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2019.
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