France 1792-BB 1/2 ecu
This specimen was lot 71050 in Stack's Bowers Collectors Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, September 2025), where it sold for $2,040. The catalog description[1] noted, "FRANCE. Constitution. 1/2 Ecu, 1792-BB/Year 4. Strasbourg Mint. Louis XVI. PCGS VF-20. No doubt one of the RAREST coins from the reign of Louis XVI, this evenly circulated minor sports a charming gunmetal gray hue and some darker aspects around the devices. From the Richard Margolis Collection (acquired from Joe Collard on 12 December 2000 for $450)." This specimen is one of a type struck 1792-93 during the early stages of the French Revolution before the trial and execution of the king. It is the scarcest of the denominations issued during the "Constitutional" period of 1791-93. This one has "FRANÇAIS" on the obverse instead of the usual "FRANÇOIS" and is accounted a separate subtype. Several mints participated in this issue but Paris is the only one not very rare.
Recorded mintage: unknown, a rare date.
Specification: 14.74 g, 0.917 fine silver, 33 mm diameter, lettered edge. Engraved by Augustin Dupré.
Catalog reference: KM-614; Gad-42.
- 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 Françaises, 1789-2019, 24me éd., Monaco: Éditions Victor Gadoury, 2019.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, September 2025 World Collectors Choice Online Auction, including Selections from the Richard Margolis Collection and Selections from the L.E. Bruun Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2025.
Link to:
- 1791-A demi-écu au buste habillé
- 1791-T demi-écu au buste habillé
- France 1792-BB 3 deniers "FRANÇAIS"
- France 1792-D 3 deniers "FRANÇOIS"
- France 1792-BB 6 deniers "FRANÇAIS"
- France 1792 1/2 sol Brézin's pattern
- 1792-A 12 deniers
- 1792-B 12 deniers
- France 1792-BB 12 deniers, "FRANÇOIS" and "FRANÇAIS"
- France 1792-D 12 deniers
- France 1792 sol, pattern
- 1792 2 sols, pattern
- 1792-A 2 sols
- 1792-R 2 sols
- 1792-B 2 sols
- 1792-BB 2 sols
- 1792-H 2 sols
- 1792-M 2 sols
- 1792-MA 2 sols
- 1792-N 2 sols
- 1792-R 2 sols
- 1792-W 2 sols
- Clemanson et CE 1792 2 sols token
- Monneron Freres 1792 2 sols, seated liberty, "PATENTÉ"
- Monneron Freres 1792 2 sols, seated liberty, no brackets around "PATENTÉ"
- Monneron Freres 1792 2 sols, Hercules
- Monneron Freres 1792 5 sols, oath, "PATENTÉ"
- Monneron Freres 1792/L'AN III 5 sols, oath
- Monneron Freres 1792/L'AN IV 5 sols, oath
- Monneron Freres 1792 5 sols "Hercules"
- France 1792 5 sols Brézin's patterns
- Lefèvre and Lesage 1792 10 sols token
- Lefèvre and Lesage 1792 20 sols token
- 1792-A 15 sols
- 1792-D 15 sols
- 1792-I 15 sols
- 1792-L 15 sols
- 1792-M 15 sols
- 1792-W 15 sols
- 1792-A 30 sols
- France 1792-BB 30 sols "FRANÇAIS"
- 1792-D 30 sols
- 1792-I 30 sols
- 1792-MA 30 sols
- 1792-N 30 sols
- 1792-Q 30 sols
- 1792-R 30 sols
- 1792-T 30 sols
- 1792-W 30 sols
- 1792 30 sols du Béarn
- 1792-A demi-écu au buste habillé
- 1792-A demi-écu constitutionnel
- 1792-N demi-écu constitutionnel
- 1792-T demi-écu constitutionnel
- France 1792 3 livres pattern
- 1792-A écu au buste habillé
- 1792-A écu constitutionnel
- 1792-AA écu constitutionnel
- 1792-B écu constitutionnel
- 1792-BB écu constitutionnel
- 1792-D écu constitutionnel
- 1792-H écu constitutionnel
- 1792-I écu constitutionnel
- 1792-K écu constitutionnel
- 1792-M écu constitutionnel
- 1792-MA écu constitutionnel
- 1792-N écu constitutionnel
- 1792-R écu constitutionnel
- 1792-T écu constitutionnel
- 1792-W écu constitutionnel
- 1792-A louis d'or "Constitutional"
- 1792-A double louis d'or à la tête nue
- Coins and currency dated 1792
- return to French royal coinage (to 1793)