View source for France 1583-9 1/8 ecu

[[Image:SB1123-73315o.jpg|300px|thumb|Stack's Bowers November 2023 Collector's Choice sale, lot 73315]]
[[Image:SB1123-73315r.jpg|300px|thumb]]

This specimen was lot 73315 in Stack's Bowers Collector's Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, November 2023), where it sold for $144. The catalog description<sup>[1]</sup> noted, "[[France|FRANCE]]. 1/8 Ecu, 1583-9. Rennes Mint. Henry III. PCGS EF-40. Deeply toned, with all design elements intact and mostly clear legends throughout." This specimen was struck by the hammer at Poitiers during the reign of Henry III, last of the Valois dynasty. The Tours, Poitiers and Troyes mints switched the obverse/reverse legends vs. other mints. After production of the [[France 1586-M franc|''franc d'argent'']] was suspended in 1586, the quarter écu was the largest silver coin regularly struck prior to the introduction of milled coinage in the 1640's. This eighth écu had a face value of 7½ ''sols tournois''.

''Recorded mintage:'' 211,414.

''Specification:'' 4.85 g, 0.917 fine silver.

''Catalog reference:'' Dupl-1134, Sb 4664 (five examples reported). 

''[[Bibliography|Source:]]''
* Duplessy, Jean, ''Les Monnaies Françaises Royales de Hugues Capet à Louis XVI (987-1793), Tome II, 2e édition,'' Paris: Maison Platt, 1999.
* Roberts, James N., ''The Silver Coins of Medieval France (476-1610 AD)'', S. Salem, NY: Attic Books, 1996.
* Sombart, Stéphan, ''Franciae IV: Catalogue des Monnaies Royales Françaises de François Ier à Henri IV (1540-1610)'', Paris: Éditions les Chevau-légers, 1997.
* <sup>[1]</sup>Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, ''November 2023 World Collectors Choice Online Auction - Ancient & World Coins,'' Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2023.

''Link to:''
* [[France 1582-9 1/4 ecu|1582-9 ''quart d'écu'']]
* [[France 1583-& 2 sols|1583-& ''double sol parisis'']]
* [[France 1583-K franc|1583-K ''franc au col plat'']]
* [[France 1583-B ecu d'or|1583-B ''écu d'or au soleil'']]
* [[France 1587-G 1/8 ecu|1587-G ''huitième d'écu au marteau'', Henry III]]
* [[Coins and currency dated 1583]]
* return to [[French royal coinage (to 1793)]]

[[Category: Selections from the Stack's Bowers 2023 Collector's Choice sale]][[Category:Silver minors of France]]