France 1775-Q ecu
This specimen was lot 56177 in Stack's Bowers NYINC sale (New York, January 2024), where it sold for $264. The catalog description[1] noted, "FRANCE. Ecu, 1775-Q. Perpignan Mint. Louis XVI. PCGS EF-45. From an Old Brooklyn Collection." This specimen is an écu au buste habillé struck at the Perpignan mint, one of a type struck there 1775-91. Its divisions were the ½, 1/5, 1/10 and 1/20 écu, struck in modest quantities. The écu was worth $1.10 in the USA before the Civil War. The écu au buste habillé is the most popular coin of Louis XVI among collectors. The 1775-Q is a common date for 1775. A 1775/4 overdate is reported.
Recorded mintage: 429,306[2], common.
Specifications for the Écu au buste habillé:
- Obverse: LUD.XVI.D.G.FR ET NAV. REX. (for Pau, NA.RE. BD), king’s uniformed bust left, hair tied with a ribbon;
- reverse: SIT NOMEN DOMINI BENEDICTUM (date), oval shield of France, crowned, between two olive branches tied with ribbon, mintmark below; edge lettered DOMINE SALVUM FAC REGEM.
- composition: silver, 11 deniers (0.917 fine), 8.3 pieces to the mark (29.488 g), face value 6 livres, 39 mm diameter. Engraved by Benjamin Duvivier.
Catalog reference: Dr/4 № 883, Dr/2 № 616, Dav-1333, Dupl-1708; KM-564.13; Gad-356.
- [2]Droulers, Frédéric, Répertoire General des Monnaies de Louis XIII à Louis XVI (1610-1792), 2nd édition. Paris: AFPN, 1998.
- Duplessy, Jean, Les Monnaies Françaises Royales de Hugues Capet à Louis XVI (987-1793), Tome II, 2e édition, Paris: Maison Platt, 1999.
- Davenport, John S., European Crowns, 1700-1800, 2nd Ed., London: Spink & Son, 1964.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- Gadoury, Victor, Monnaies Royales Françaises, 1610-1792, 5me éd., Monaco: Éditions Victor Gadoury, 2018.
- George Sobin, Jr., The Silver Crowns of France, 1640-1973. Teaneck, NJ: Richard Margolis, 1974.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, January 2024 NYINC Auction, featuring the Emilio M Ortiz Collection and a Symphony of Russian Rarities, the Rothschild-Piatigorsky Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2023.
Link to:
- 1775-A cinquième d'écu au buste habillé
- 1775-& cinquième d'écu au buste habillé
- 1775-BB demi-écu au buste habillé
- 1775-A écu au buste habillé
- 1775-B écu au buste habillé
- 1775-W écu au buste habillé
- 1775 écu au buste habillé du Béarn
- 1775-A louis d'or au buste habillé
- 1775-W louis d'or au buste habillé
- 1775-I double louis d'or au buste habillé
- 1776-I écu au buste habillé
- 1776-L écu au buste habillé
- 1776-R écu au buste habillé
- 1776-W écu au buste habillé
- Coins and currency dated 1775
- return to French royal coinage (to 1793)