France 1643-A 1/2 louis d'or Fr-416

Stack's Bowers 2021 NYINC sale, lot 20117

This specimen was lot 20117 in Stack's Bowers NYINC sale (Newport Beach, CA, January 2021), where it sold for $2,280. The catalog description^[1] noted, "FRANCE. 1/2 Louis d'Or, 1643-A. Paris Mint. Louis XIV. NGC AU-58. Obverse: Laureate head right; Reverse: Crowned cruciform monogram, with lis in each angle. Just a hint of light handling on the high points is the only evidence of this piece's time in circulation. Accordingly, a good deal of lustrous brilliance remains in many of the protected areas. Ex Stack's (1/2008) Lot # 2477." This type is the second French demi-louis d'or, part of the coinage reform which attempted to replace hammered coinage with milled coinage. Its face value was five livres tournois. The louis d'or of Louis XIII were struck 1640-43 in fairly large quantities in an attempt to displace the miscellaneous écus d'or of earlier in the reign and that of Henri IV. The demi-louis d'or would be struck until the end of the ancien régime in 1792 tho never in large quantities. Demi-louis of Louis XIII are also known for 1643.

Recorded mintage: unknown but a common date for the type.

Specification: 3.37 g, 0.917 fine gold, plain edge.

Catalog reference: Fr-416; KM-148.1.

Source:

• 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.
• Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
• Gadoury, Victor, Monnaies Royales Françaises, 1610-1792, 5me éd., Monaco: Éditions Victor Gadoury, 2018.
• Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
• ^[1]Orsini, Matt, Richard Ponterio and Kyle Ponterio, The January 2021 NYINC Sale: Ancient Coins, World Coins & Paper Money, featuring the Oro del Nuevo Mundo and Matt Orsini Collections, Santa Ana, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2020.

Link to:

• 1643-H double tournois de Warin
• 1643-A double tournois
• 1643-A douzième d'écu de Louis XIII
• 1643-D douzième d'écu de Louis XIII
• 1643 quart d'écu du Béarn, Morlaàs mint
• 1643-AR quart d'écu au marteau
• 1643-K quart d'écu au marteau, Louis XIV
• 1643-M hammered quart d'écu
• 1643-A quart d'écu de Louis XIII
• 1643-A quart d'écu à la mèche courte
• 1643-D demi-écu de 30 sols, Louis XIII
• 1643-A demi-écu de 30 sols, Louis XIII
• 1643-A demi-écu à la mèche courte, Louis XIV
• 1643-D écu de 60 sols
• 1643-A écu à la mèche courte, Louis XIV
• 1643-A demi-louis d'or de Louis XIII
• 1643-A louis d'or, Louis XIII
• 1643-A louis d'or à la mèche courte, Louis XIV
• Coins and currency dated 1643
• return to French royal coinage (to 1793)