France 1653-C 1/2 ecu

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Stack's Bowers 2022 NYINC sale, lot 1087
SB122-1087r.jpg

This specimen was lot 1087 in Stack's Bowers NYINC sale (New York, January 2022), where it sold for $960. The catalog description[1] noted, "FRANCE. 1/2 Ecu, 1653-C. Saint-Lo Mint. Louis XIV. NGC MS-64. Elite quality, showing satiny smooth fields with an overlay of exhilarating blue, green, yellow, orange, and red tone that highlights the surfaces. While a few planchet adjustments remain visible in the reverse shield, their presence does little to detract from this near-Gem's magnificence. Unsurprisingly, the single finest example certified by NGC, with few equivalents extant for no matter the mint." The specimen shown is a demi-écu a la mèche longue (half ecu with the long hair) from the Saint-Lo mint. It is one of a series struck 1646-60 from numerous mints and varies from the earlier half écu a la mèche courte by the length of the lock of hair over the king's ear. Its face value in France at the time of issue was 30 sols tournois. The type is common but this date is priced[2] slightly higher than the most common date (1652-G).

Recorded mintage: 97,702[2].

Specification: 13.72 g, 0.917 fine silver, 31 to 32 mm diameter, plain edge, engraved by Jean Warin.

Catalog reference: Dr/ 4 no. 527, KM-164.4; Gad-169.

Source:

  • Duplessy, Jean, Les Monnaies Françaises Royales de Hugues Capet à Louis XVI (987-1793), Tome II, 2e édition, Paris: Maison Platt, 1999.
  • [2]Droulers, Frédéric, Répertoire General des Monnaies de Louis XIII à Louis XVI (1610-1792), 4e édition. Paris: AFPN, 2009.
  • 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]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, The 2022 NYINC Sale: World and Ancient Coins, featuring the Mark and Lottie Salton Collection and the Pat Johnson Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2021.

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