France 1728-Pau 1/2 ecu
This specimen was lot 22133 in Heritage sale 61352 (Dallas, December 2023), where it sold for $89. The catalog description[1] noted, "France: Louis XV 1/2 Ecu 1728/7-(Cow) XF45 PCGS, Pau mint, Issued for the Province of Bearn. An already scarce issue from the Pau mint made scarcer with the overdate." Shown is a demi-écu aux branches d'olivier ("half écu with olive wreath") struck at Pau during the reign of Louis XV. This coin was part of the great coinage reform of Cardinal Fleury which finally terminated the manipulations which had disrupted the economy since the 1690's. Unfortunately, after a good start in 1726-27, mintages of the demi-écu dwindled and most dates from the 1730's are quite scarce. While the Pau mint would greatly increase its issues in the 1750's and 1760's, in 1728 it was still a rare mint.
Recorded mintage: 41,706.
Specification: 14.74 g, 0.917 fine silver, edge lettered DOMINE SALVUM FAC REGEM, designed by J.-C. Röettiers.
Catalog reference: Dr/4 № 827a, Dr/2 № 580a, KM 485, Dup-1676, Gad-313a.
- 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.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- [1]Cristiano Bierrenbach, Warren Tucker and Sam Spiegel, 2023 December 10 Spotlight: France World Coins Showcase Auction #61352, Dallas, TX: Heritage Auctions, 2023.
Link to:
- 1726-A demi-écu aux branches d'olivier
- 1728-I dixième d'écu aux rameaux d'olivier
- 1728-K dixième d'écu aux branches d'olivier
- 1728-9 cinquième d'écu aux rameaux d'olivier
- 1728-AA demi-écu aux branches d'olivier
- 1728-B demi-écu aux branches d'olivier
- 1728-D demi-écu aux branches d'olivier
- 1728-X demi-écu aux branches d'olivier
- 1728-A écu aux rameaux d'olivier
- 1728-AA écu aux rameaux d'olivier
- 1728-E écu aux rameaux d'olivier
- 1728-H écu aux rameaux d'olivier
- 1728-I écu aux rameaux d'olivier
- 1728-T écu aux rameaux d'olivier
- 1728-V écu aux branches d'olivier
- 1728-9 écu aux rameaux d'olivier
- 1728-I demi-louis d'or aux lunettes
- 1728-X demi-louis d'or aux lunettes
- 1728-A louis d'or aux lunettes
- 1728-AA louis d'or aux lunettes
- 1728-BB louis d'or aux lunettes
- 1728-C louis d'or aux lunettes
- 1728-I louis d'or aux lunettes
- 1728-N louis d'or aux lunettes
- 1728-T louis d'or aux lunettes
- 1728-Y louis d'or aux lunettes
- 1728-9 louis d'or aux lunettes
- 1729-W demi-écu aux branches d'olivier
- 1729-X demi-écu aux branches d'olivier
- Coins and currency dated 1728
- return to French royal coinage (to 1793)