France 1672-A 1/2 ecu

photo courtesy Scotsman

The specimen shown is a demi-écu juvénile struck at the Paris mint during the reign of Louis XIV of France. It was lot 184 in Scotsman's Midsummer sale (St. Louis, July 2011). Droulers^[1] devotes catalog numbers 530 thru 557 to describe the numerous variations of this bust, introduced in 1659 when the king was 21 years old. This issue is noted in Droulers^[1] as fairly common for the type. Altho the succeeding bust, the demi-écu à la cravate, was introduced in 1672, demi-écus juvéniles are known dated as late as 1680.

Recorded mintage: approximately 310,000.

Specification: 13.72 g, 0.917 fine silver, 32-33 mm diameter, plain edge, designed by Jean Warin.

Catalog reference: Dr/4 № 556, Dr/2 № 336.

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.
• 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.

Link to:

• 1671-D demi-écu juvénile
• 1671-9 écu au buste juvénile
• 1672-A écu au buste juvénile
• 1672-L écu au buste juvénile
• 1672-A louis d'or à la tête nue
• 1672-D louis d'or à la tête nue
• 1673-L demi-écu à la cravate
• 1683-A demi-écu à la cravate
• Coins and currency dated 1672
• return to French royal coinage (to 1793)