...Not Really Ancient, but...

This is where my friends are ... as some of you know, i cover a large spectrum of collecting and i started collecting the Louie's early on many years ago, but hadn't bought a Louis in quite a while..till now...my 1st ECU and the 4th Louis on me, introducing Louis XV looking fairly well for his 255 years..

POST COINS N COMMENTS PEEPS!

Louis XV 1767 ECU, emperors laureate bust left, olive branches reverse with devices, 29.04gms, 41mm

 

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Nice addition, I have one too. Always liked the size of these.


Louis XV (1710 - 1774 A.D.)
AR Écu au bandeau
O: LUD·XV·D·G·FR·ET NA·RE· BD(entrelaçées), Head with headband left.
R: SIT NOMEN DOMINI BENEDICTUM 1761 L, Crowned round arms of France within sprays.
Bayonne Mint
41mm
29.24g
Dy# 1680, KM 512.12

 

When I was a kid, my grandaunt showed me a box in which there were several large old silver coins. It belonged to my great-great-grandparents but there were coins that were even much older. There were 5 francs coins of the 3rd Republic, Napoleon III, Louis Philippe, and I remember very well there were 2 large silver coins of Louis XV like yours. My ancestors were so miserly they never spent them, in more than 200 years!

 

...well, one thing can be said...they'll never be broke!

 

A great coin! All I have of this sort is this one of Louis XVI:

France, AR Ecu de 6 livres françois, Paris 1792 (L'An 4), Mintmark A. Obv. Bare head Left, LOUIS XVI ROI DES FRANCOIS/ Rev. Winged Genius of France standing right, inscribing Constitution on tablet set on column; in left field, fasces topped by liberty cap; in right field, rooster standing left; REGNE DE LA LOI. In exergue, in two lines: L'AN 4 DE LA LIBERTE. KM 615.1, Davenport 1335, Gadoury 55. 39 mm., 29.4 g. Purchased March 5, 1986 from Harmer, Rooke Numismatists, Ltd., New York.



I also have a small handful of Louis XIV historical/commemorative medals with dates on them back into the 17th century. But the problem with old Louis XIV medals (and with French medals in general) is that the Paris Mint reissued them so many times, it's difficult -- at least for me -- to tell if they're originals.

 

Well now. That is cool. The Reverse looks like it was copied on to Gold Angel 20 Francs, which both look like a copy of an original Roman Heavy Denarius design. Very cool...

France - AV 20 Francs ANGEL



Roman Republic
Anonymous AR Heavy Denarius / Didrachm
6.55g, 18mm, 6h.
Rome mint, circa 265-242 BC.
Obv: Head of Roma right, wearing Phrygian helmet, cornucopiae behind
Rev: ROMANO, Victory standing right, attaching wreath to long palm, YY in right field.
Ref: Sear 25; Crawford 22/1; RSC 7.
From the Eucharius Collection.

I own both.

 

Very cool @ominus1 !

 

That 1895 gold angel is gorgeous! I've been tempted from time to time to buy a 19th century French gold coin. The easiest ones to find seem to have Napoleon III or Marianne (my mother's name!) on the obverse, but one of these would be cool as well!

 

Thank you Donna.

I like Modern Gold.

Physically, I enjoy the specific gravity of gold when you hold it in your hand. It is a true part of the magic in having gold. I enjoy 1TOZ weighted coins, but approx 1/4TOZ is really nice size and feel. I notice a lot of Ancient Gold coins hover near 1/4TOZ… Stater, Daric, Aureus

 

Louis XVI, 30 sols, AR 30 mm, 9.79 g. 1791, A = Paris. Gadoury 39.

Another coin I found in an old box full of late 19th and early 20th c. small change. It belonged to some of my wife's great-grandparents and these coins were probably discarded in an attic because they were no longer accepted. This 30 sols silver coin is so worn we can see it circulated a very long time.

It still belongs to the old French monetary system with Livre (Tournois), Sou or Sol, and Denier. In 1791 a Livre (or Franc) = 15 sols. The system was reformed in 1795 to adopt Franc and Centimes, but new silver Franc coins were not introduced before the Franc Germinal (law of the 7 Germinal an XI = 28 March 1803). From this year on, the Franc was a coin of 5.00 g of silver and remained so until 1920. The 2 Francs coin was a 27 mm silver coin of 10.00 g in theory, though of course worn specimens are only 9.7 to 9.8 g. Even if it was a little larger, this Louis XVI coin of 1791 could be accepted for a 2 Francs coin during the whole 19th c. and even the early 20th c.!

This is probably why these 30 sols can be found in very worn condition like this one, for many specimens circulated during more than a century. This is not the case with larger écus de 6 livres like your coin, I have never seen a much worn specimen. From 1803 to 1920 the equivalent large silver coin was the 5 Francs, AR 37 mm, 25.00 g in theory. The old ecu had roughly the same diameter but was 4.5 g too heavy, so it fell victim of the decimal system... I suppose these écus were taken out of circulation and melted to mint Francs.

 

Hey, nice to see Homeland coins apreciated overseas !!

I don't have anymore the Louis XV ecu I started with, as I replaced it with a 1/5th ecu


Louis XV (1715-1774) - Cinquieme d'ecu au bandeau 1759 L - Atelier de Bayonne (L)
LUD . XV . D . G . FR . ET . NAV . REX, tête ornée d'un bandeau a gauche
. SIT . NOMEN . DOMINI BENEDICTVM rose 17[5]9, ecu ovale couronné entre deux branches de laurier
5.81 gr
Ref : Ciani # 2127

As for the Genius we see on @DonnaML ecu, its design as been copied/reused many times since the French Revolution, on gold during 19th century, as @Alegandron pointed out, but also more recently on silver commemoratives on the occasion of the bicentennary of the revolution





Not mine :


Q

 

The IIIrd Republic erased what the Genius was writing, and replaced on the fasces the Liberty Cap by the Hand of Justice, belonging to the French Monarchy Regalia since the Middle Ages.



In other terms, for the bourgeois Republic, Republic was OK but Revolution was not.

 

Important precision, you're perfectly right

Q

 

Those are some nice French coins in this thread.

Ecus are very handsome coins - from my countermark-collecting (non-ancient) days, here are a couple of French ecus counterstamped for use in Bern, Switzerland, c. 1816-1819. In addition to the counterstamps, the edges were re-done as well. Years ago I read that most of these were melted down by Swiss watchmakers because the silver purity was so high. They are rather scarce, but expensive rather than rare, I'd say. I got that holed one really cheap, back in the days when holed coins were spurned by most collectors (but not me). Holed coins are not the bargain they used to be, even on eBay:



Nowadays I collect ancient countermarks - some of them are spectacularly unattractive - the first one is my first "pseudo-countermark" - never heard of such a thing before. Here are two recent ones I got:


Caracalla Æ 28
(c. 212-217 A.D.)
Topirus, Thrace
AYT K M AYPH ANTΩNIN[OC], laureate head right / OYΛΠ[IAC TOΠI]POY, Tetrastyle temple with Herakles seated on a rock left, giving his hand to a woman standing right.
Moushmov 4981 (see notes).
(15.87 grams / 28 mm)
eBay Nov. 2021
Pseudo-Countermark:
AMP monogram in 6 mm circle obverse. Howgego 604.
"Although seemingly a countermark, the monogram on the obverse of the present piece was in fact engraved on the original die, as is evidenced by the clear raised rim and the exact repetition of both location and design on other examples of the type...." Roma Numismatics


This is about as nice as Byzantine countermarks get in my price range - I have two or three others, but this is by far my best:


Byzantine Empire Æ Follis
Heraclius
(c. 616-622 A.D.)
Sicilian Mint
Host coin: Follis of Justinian I (star-cross-cross reverse; see notes).
Counterstamp: bust of Heraclius, facing in circle, PTh monogram / SCLs in oval.
SB 882; DOC 241.
(18.34 grams / 33 x 28 mm)
eBay Nov. 2021
Host Coin:
Justinian I Æ Follis
(527-538 A.D.)
Mint obliterated (see below)
DN IVSTI[NIAN]VS PP [AVG], pearl-diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Large M, star left, cross above, cross right, Officina A below, [mintmark CON or NIKM in exergue].
SB 158 (Constantinople)
SB 198 (Nicomedia).

 

kool!

 

Like @DonnaML I too have a 1792 Ecu. One of my favorite world coins I own, mainly for the toning.


Louis XVI (1774-1792 A.D.)
AR Ecu Livre tournois (6 Livres)
France, 1st Republic
O: LOUIS XVI ROI DES FRANÇOIS : Head left. Privy mark (leopard) and date below.
R: REGNE DE LA LOI. L'AN 4 DE LA LIBERTE, Winged and wreathed Genius (personification of the French People) inscribing table (the French Constitution) on column. Fasces, topped by liberty cap in left field, cock in right field.
Rouen Mint
29.4g
39mm
Dy# 1718, KM#615.3

 

Does anyone know what the small symbols to the left of the fasces on the reverse of the 1792 Ecu symbolize? On my coin, the symbol resembles a lyre, and on @Mat's I'm not sure what it is but it's clearly something different. Do the different symbols have anything to do with the different mint marks to the right of the rooster on the reverse? (A on my coin, signifying Paris if I remember correctly, and B on @Mat's.)

 

Beautifull coins!
I will add some of mine to keep thread going Three Louis straight XVI/XV/XIV+ a Francois I who got taken to the woodshed by Karl V at Pavia in 1525

 

I do have a Louis XV ecu or lurking around in one of the boxes, but I did come across an ecu of his daddy.

This is a very nice example, free of any major adjustment marks, decently struck and good surfaces on a somewhat out of round flan.

Louis XIV, 1710
Ecu of three crowns
X (Amiens)

KM 386.20

30.47 grams

 

I found this information online:

"The French Revolution reinterpreted this symbol: the fasces now represent the union and strength of French citizens united to defend Liberty. In 1790, the National Constituent Assembly established these “antique fasces” as the new symbol of France."