France 1642-AR 1/4 ecu
This specimen was lot 772 in Steve Album Auction 54 (Santa Rosa, CA, January 2026), where it sold for $192. The catalog description[1] noted, "FRANCE: Louis XIII, 1610-1643, AR 1/4 ecu, 1642, rat mint mark - Arras Mint, VF." This quarter écu was struck by the hammer at the Arras mint late in the reign of Louis XIII. It had a face value of 21 sols tournois. Starting in 1640 and extending into the early years of Louis XIV, French mints were converting to milled coinage similar to this quarter écu from Paris, worth 15 sols tournois. This date comes croix de face (king's name on the cross side, Dr/4 № 105) or écu de face (king's name on the shield side, shown here, Dr/4 № 106). Arras, the capital of the county of Artois, struck coins for the Spanish until its seizure by the forces of Louis XIV in 1640. The king of Spain officially ceded it to France in 1659, by which time the mint had closed.
Recorded mintage: 153,364, a fairly common date[2].
Specification: 9.71 g, 0.917 fine silver, 26-31 mm diameter, this specimen 9.37 g.
Catalog reference: Dupl-1332b, Dr/4 № 105 or 106, Dr/2 № 86, KM-47 (unlisted mint).
- [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.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- Gadoury, Victor, Monnaies Royales Françaises, 1610-1792, 5me éd., Monaco: Éditions Victor Gadoury, 2018.
- [1]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Hanbing Feng, Auction 54, featuring selections from the Kenneth A. Bovenkamp Collection of Ottoman Coins, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2025.
Link to:
- 1641-AR quart d'écu au marteau, croix de face
- 1641-L quart d'écu au marteau, croix de face
- 1642-H double tournois à la vieille tête de Warin
- 1642-A 1/12 écu
- 1642-M huitiême d'écu
- 1642-A quart d'écu
- 1642-D quart d'écu au marteau, croix de face
- 1642-E quart d'écu au marteau, écu de face
- 1642-F quart d'écu au marteau, croix de face
- 1642-A écu
- 1642-A écu d'or au moulin
- 1642-N écu d'or au marteau
- 1642-A demi-louis d'or
- 1642-A louis d'or
- 1643-A milled quart d'écu
- 1643 quart d'écu du Béarn, Morlaàs mint
- 1643-AR quart d'écu au marteau, écu de face
- 1643-M quart d'écu au marteau, croix de face
- Coins and currency dated 1642
- return to French royal coinage (to 1793)