I have this Louis XV coin with a strange marking embedded on the poor fellows face. 1. What is that marking? 2. Can someone guess why it is there? 3. Is the coin worthless, is it extremely valuable? Thanks, Amit
Your coin is an Ecu de France issued under Loius XV in 1722, minted in Paris. It is among the most common date/mint examples. It was struck over an Ecu Carambole issued under Louis XIIII in 1685 or 1686, the only 2 years the design was used. It is not especially valuable in that condition, but given that both the original and the overstrike are identifiable it would be special interest to collectors of these coins. Value is probably around $250-$300 for that reason.
GDJMSP, thanks for your reply. Could you explain what "struck over" means? Why was it done? Is that a common practice for old coins? Amit
It's not an error in any way. It was done quite intentionally. It's quite simple. They literally took an old coin issued by the previous King, used that coin as a planchet, and struck the new coin right on top of the old one. And yes, it was an extremely common practice for hundreds of years. Vitually every country did it, and did it often. As to why they did, it was because it was much cheaper to use the old coins as planchets, they were already the correct size and weight after all, than it would have been to melt them all down, make new planchets, and strike the new coins. Think of it like this. The US Mint would take a bunch of older clad Washington quarters. Then they would put them in the coin press and strike National Park quarters right over top of the old design. In some cases, maybe even most of them, you would still be able to see the old design underneath the new design.
The US Mint actually did this in the early days, overstriking some half cents on Talbot, Allum & Lee coppers.
