France 1792-MA ecu

Stack's Bowers 2025 ANA sale, lot 43089

This specimen was lot 43089 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Oklahoma City, OK, August 2025), where it sold for $456. The catalog description^[1] noted, "FRANCE. Constitution. Ecu, Year 4/1792-MA. Marseille Mint. Louis XVI. PCGS Genuine--Tooled, EF Details. Second semester. Despite the large degree of circulation and noted tooling, this example nevertheless remains a SCARCE and difficult type, with Margolis even noting that "...this was the first example of this date and mint that I acquired in some fifty years of collecting this series, although a couple of other examples are known." From the Richard Margolis Collection (acquired from Patrick Guillard at CICF on 5 April 2002 for $395)." This specimen is a "constitutional écu" struck at the Marseille mint, one of a type struck there 1792-93, prior to the trial and execution of the king. Its divisions were the ½, 1/4 and 1/8 écu, struck in billon. The écu was worth $1.10 in the USA before the Civil War. The 1792-A and 1793-A are the most available dates of this scarce type.

Recorded mintage: unknown, a scarce date with the second semester being rare.

Specification: 29.48 g, 0.917 fine silver, 39 mm diameter, lettered edge.

Catalog reference: Dav-1335; KM-615.10; Gad-55.

Sources:

Davenport, John S., European Crowns, 1700-1800, 2nd Ed., London: Spink & Son, 1964.
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.
Guilloteau, Victor, Monnaies Françaises, Colonies 1670-1942 et Metropole 1774-1942, Versailles, 1942.
Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
George Sobin, Jr., The Silver Crowns of France, 1640-1973. Teaneck, NJ: Richard Margolis, 1974.
^[1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, August 2025 Global Showcase Auction, World & Ancient Coins, featuring The Richard August Collection and the Richard Margolis Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2025.

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France 1792-MA ecu

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