Featured The shortened King

Hi CT friends

On that very day (21st of january) in 1793 CE was the King of France Louis XVI beheaded :



The execution of Louis XVI by means of the guillotine, a major event of the French Revolution, took place on 21 January 1793 at the Place de la Révolution ("Revolution Square", formerly Place Louis XV, and renamed Place de la Concorde in 1795) in Paris. The National Convention had convicted the king (17 January 1793) in a near-unanimous vote (while no one voted "not guilty", several deputies abstained) and condemned him to death by a simple majority.

Louis XVI awoke at 5 o'clock. After dressing with the aid of his valet Jean-Baptiste Cléry, he went to meet with the non-juring Irish priest Henry Essex Edgeworth to make his confession. He heard his last Mass, served by Cléry, and received Communion. The Mass requisites were provided by special direction of the authorities. On Father Edgeworth's advice, Louis avoided a last farewell scene with his family. At 7 o'clock he confided his last wishes to the priest. His royal seal was to go to the Dauphin and his wedding ring to the Queen. After receiving the priest's blessing, he went to meet Antoine Joseph Santerre, Commander of the Guard. A green carriage waited in the second court. He seated himself in it with the priest, with two militiamen sitting opposite them. The carriage left the Temple at approximately 9 o'clock. For more than an hour the carriage, preceded by drummers playing to drown out any support for the King and escorted by a cavalry troop with drawn sabres, made its way through Paris along a route lined with 80,000 men-at-arms and soldiers of the National Guard and sans-culottes.

In the neighbourhood of the present-day rue de Cléry, the Baron de Batz, a supporter of the Royal family who had financed the flight to Varennes, had summoned 300 Royalists to enable the King's escape. Louis was to be hidden in a house in the rue de Cléry belonging to the Count of Marsan. The Baron leaped forward calling "Follow me, my friends, let us save the King!", but his associates had been denounced and only a few had been able to turn up. Three of them were killed, but de Batz managed to escape.

At 10 o'clock, the carriage arrived at Place de la Révolution and proceeded to an area where a scaffold had been erected, in a space surrounded by guns and drums, and by a crowd carrying pikes and bayonets.

After initially refusing to have his hands tied, Louis XVI relented when the executioner proposed to use his handkerchief instead of rope. After this his hair was cut and the collar of his shirt was removed. After being led upon the scaffold, Louis tried to give a speech but the noise of the drums made this difficult to understand. He was then laid on the bench, the collar closed over his neck and then the blade came down. (source Wikipedia.en)

Below are a few coins of mine from which we can understand how things went.

Here, Louis XVI is monarch by Divine right "Ludovicus XVI Deo Gratia Fran. et Nav. Rex" :


Louis XVI (1774-1792) - Demi Ecu aux lauriers 1791 A Atelier de Paris, 2° semestre de 1791 (.A)
LUD . XVI . D . G . FR . ET . NAV . REX ., buste habillé a gauche orné du cordon du Saint Esprit. Point sous le D de LUD
. SIT . NOMEN . DOMINI BENEDICTVM lyre 1791, ecu ovale couronné entre deux branches de laurier, .A sous l'ecu
Tranche inscrite : DOMINE SALVVM FAC REGEM
14.70 gr
Ref : Ciani # 2189


We then have a King being on the same level as his subjects and the Law. He his king of the french instead of being King of France


Constitution - 12 deniers 1791 A Atelier de Paris (A)
LOUIS XVI ROI DES FRANCOIS, buste drapé a gauche, A sous le buste
LA NATION LA LOI LE ROI rose 1791 . 3 . DELALIB . faisceau surmonté d'un bonnet phrygien entre deux branches de chêne
11.82 gr
Ref : Ciani # 2253

Later on Louis XVI is still there on the obverse, but the reverse says "the rule of Law"


Constitution - 30 sols 1792 I Atelier de Limoges (I)
. LOUIS XVI ROI DES FRANCOIS . a l'exergue 1792, buste drapé a gauche
REGNE DE LA LOI, le genie de la liberté a droite, gravant la CONSTITUTION.
Dans le champ 30 | SOLS . et I, a l'exergue L'AN 4 DE LA LIBERTE . en deux lignes
10.16 gr
Ref : Ciani # 2241


On this last one the King is no more present (he's had been executed on jan 21st the same year), and "humans are equals towards Law"


Convention - Sol aux balances 1793 AA Atelier de Metz (AA) refrappe
REPUBLIQUE FRANCOISE, la table de la loi, avec gravé LES HOMMES SONT EGAUX DEVANT LA LOI en six lignes, de part et d'autre une grappe de raisin et des epis de blé, a l'exergue L'AN II
LIBERTE EGALITE, balance surmontée d'un bonnet phrygien, entourée d'une couronne de chêne, au centre I . S a l'exergue AA 1793 en deux lignes
10.89 gr
Ref : Gadoury 2003 # 19

Please post anything relevant : Louis XVI coins, coins minted at the same period, severed heads, or whatever you like

Cheers
Q

PS : I think I have already posted about the subject some years ago, but wanted to develop a bit more what happened along that day

 

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I just recently finished Mike Duncan's "Revolutions" podcast series on the French Revolution! So incredibly interesting! Now I'm on the Revolution of 1848.

 

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing!

 

By the way, the last execution by guillotine took place around 1977 in Marseille...

 

Louis XVI (1754 - 1793 A.D.)
AR Écu aux branches d'olivier
O: LUD•XVI•D•G•FR• - ET• NA•RE•BD(entrelacées); Ornamental stitching on uniform.
R: • SIT NOMEN DOMINI - BENEDICTUM 1783 A, Crowned arms of France within branches.
Paris Mint
42mm
29.48g
Dy# 1708, KM 564.1

 

LOL !!! What a great cartoon!

 

Wow, Cuke, I really like those coins! I am seriously considering becoming a Frenchman, so I can chase after those. That is an incredible time in History!

I got the Guy who came after it all...

And, hey! you know this coin pretty well !


France
Napoleon Emperor
AR 2 Francs
1808-I Limoges mint
Republic Rev
AU55
Ex: @Cucumbor

 

Guillotine blade used in Lyon during the French Revolution.

 

The blade looks rather dull.

 

I hope it wasn't dull. Anyway, I just finished reading the book Napoleon by the historian Andrew Roberts. Thanks for the post and neat coins @Cucumbor !

 

Great write up and coins! Like Gandy, all I've got is his following act, old what's his name:

Napoleon Bonaparte
France. Paris.AD 1804-1815.
1/4 Franc AR an 13
15mm., 1,25g.

very fine

 

oui wee Q....XVl is on my list, i bid on several last year, but no cigar(or coin).i really don't want a jeton either.. i have all(save for him) the Louis's back to the ninth, all silver save for this one of Xlll, but since i got it back in '06, i'll keep it...

 

France in better times, under the iconic Louis XIV

FRANCE, Louis XIIII. Denomination: 1/12 ECU, minted: ; 1661
Obv: LVD.XIIII.DG FR.ET.NAV.REX
Rev: SIT.NOMEN.DOMINI.A.BENEDICTVM.1661.
Weight: 2.17g; Ø:2.1mm
Catalogue: WM Nr. 4029;Provenance: Ex private collection; acq.: 05-2019

After things took a turn (I need to reshoot this photo; the coin is so much nicer in hand):

FRENCH REPUBLIC, Annonymous. Denomination: 5 sols, minted: France; 1792
Obv: Row of French soldiers, facing left, swearing allegiance to the new Republic, seated, wearing helmet, holding constitution. Below, portrait of Louis XVI on plinth, head right.
Rev: MONNERON FRERES NEGOCIANS A PARIS
MEDAILLE/DE CONFIANCE/DE CINQ-SOLS/REMBOURSABLE/EN ASSIGNATS/DE 50 ET./AU DESSUS/ L'AN IV. DE LA/LIBERTÉ
Weight: 27.7g; Ø:3.9mm
Catalogue: VG.291 - Maz.145 - Br.223 - Dr / Mer.55d - BOUCHETR.55 /3
Provenance: Ex private collection; acq.: 11-2017

Followed by yet another change of events ...

FRANCE, Napoleon. Denomination: 1 franc, minted: Marseille (France); 1805
Obv: NAPOLEON - EMPEREUR.
Rev: REPUBLIQUE FRANCAISE AN 13
Mintmark; M (Marseille)
Weight: 4.82g; Ø:2.3mm
Catalogue: Ga.443-F.201
Provenance: Ex private collection; acq.: 05-2019

 

Very interesting

 

Nice. Here is a different co-incidence - that seems somehow profoundly related to your own piece, at least to this inhabitant of a soggy Island a little to your west.

2020 is a double anniversary

1) 400 years since Francis Bacon wrote Novum Organum

2) 400 years since the Mayflower set sail

I will write you..................

 

Great write up and historical context!

I took this photo at a museum in London 16 years ago. Believe it was Madam Tussauds.

This guillotine beheaded his wife Marie Antoinette in 1793 - could it be the same used for the King?

 

Very interesting as always.

 

I retook the picture:

 

Excellent write-up.

 

A common Louis XVI coin:


France gold double Louis d'Or 1786-A (Louis XVI)

Gold, 28mm, 15.24gm
Slightly smaller and lighter than a United States $10 Eagle.