France 1752-Q ecu

from the Mountain Groan Collection

The long reign of Louis XV (1715-74) saw many coin types come and go. The first part of the reign, while Louis was a child, was a period of monetary confusion and manipulation. The reforms of Cardinal Fleury (1726) stabilized the fiscal situation until the total collapse at the eve of the Revolution. Numismatically, this period can be divided into three epochs, marked by the écu aux branches d’olivier (1726-40), the écu au bandeau (1740-72) and the écu à la vielle tête (1770-74). This specimen belongs to the middle period. This date, a product of the Perpignan mint, is rare per Gadoury and fairly common per Droulers.

Recorded mintage: 29,880^[1].

Specification: silver, 11 deniers (.917 fine), 8.3 pieces to the mark (29.488 g), face value 6 livres, 39 mm diameter. Engraved by Joseph-Charles Röettiers.

Catalog reference: Dupl. 1680; Gad-322, Dr/4 no. 820, Dr/2 no. 584, KM 512, Dav-1331.

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.
• Alhéritière, Edouard, and Ludovic Deswelle, "Les écus de Louis XV de bandeau: point de situation," Numismatique et Change, No. 349 [Mai 2004], pp. 61-63.
• Clairand, Armand, Monnaies de Louis XV, Le temps de la Stabilité Monetaire, 1726-1774, Paris: Maison Platt, 1996.
• Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
• Davenport, John S., European Crowns, 1700-1800, 2nd Ed., London: Spink & Son, 1964.

Links to:

• 1750-A écu au bandeau
• 1752-L double louis d'or au bandeau
• 1752-Q double louis d'or au bandeau
• 1754-AA écu au bandeau
• Coins and currency dated 1752
• return to French royal coinage (to 1793)