France 1666-N 1/2 ecu

from the Mountain Groan Collection

The specimen shown is a demi-écu juvénile struck at the Montpellier mint during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Droulers^[1] devotes catalog numbers 530 thru 557 to describe the numerous variations of this bust, introduced in 1659 when the king was 21 years old. This issue is one of the common dates of the type but it is still priced over double a common date demi-écu à la mèche longue. Altho the succeeding bust, the demi-écu à la cravate, was introduced in 1672, demi-écus juvéniles are known dated as late as 1680.

Recorded mintage: 300,113^[1].

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

Catalog reference: Dr/4 № 548N, Dr/2 № 327.

Source:

• ^[1]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.
• 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.

Link to:

• 1656-L demi-écu à la mèche longue
• 1665-9 demi-écu juvénile
• 1666-A quart d'écu au buste juvénile
• 1666-M demi-écu juvénile
• 1666-& demi-écu juvénile
• Monaco 1666 1/2 ecu
• 1666-A louis d'or juvénile
• 1667-M demi-écu juvénile
• Coins and currency dated 1666
• return to French royal coinage (to 1793)