My latest addition and just a wonderful symbolic piece of history from early France!! France Ecu d'or au Porcepic ND (1498-1515) King Louis XII Lyon Mint NGC AU58 The porcupine was the symbol of King Louis XII (Father of the People), although docile in nature, the porcupine epitomized power and ferocity in battle - and thought to be able to hurl its quills and wound an enemy at a distance or stab selectively at close range.
That's a great and interesting coin...and post. You might now consider buying a teston from the same Louis XII, who was the first ruler to mint them in France (the teston is the silver coin featuring the ruler's portrait) Q
Very nice coin Silvereagle. Unusual motif with the porcupine. You seem to have quite a collection now of european gold.
Very nice :thumb: Another one that I always wanted but never got around to getting. And since you snuck this one in on me I shouldn't tell you , but being the nice guy that I am and all - :secret: - it is one of the scarce varieties at that, which is denoted by the obv legend. Standard legnd is - LVDOVICVS : DEI : GRA : FRANCORVM : REX Where your example is - LVDOVICVS : DEI : GRACIA : FRANCORVM : REX Ciani does not even list this variety, but Duplessy does. It is also noted that the issue was first struck on Nov. 19th, 1507.
Thanks Doug. You know last night when I was entering all my information on this coin into my book, I noticed the obverse legend was different than noted in my reference book (GRA vs GRACIA). It was late and I just left it at that ... figured I look into it later. Now I know .... I will get to the bottom of it over the weekend with additional study. Thanks again
There are those who swear by Ciani and would use no other for reference on French coinage. But while Ciani is very good, he does not have it all. Of course this is true of many. That's why I also use Gadoury and Duplessy. Now Duplessy has several volumes. The one I used for this coin was Les Monnaies Francaises Royales 987-1793 - a 2 volume set. For anyone collecting French coinage I urge them to get the Duplessy books - all of them.
Doug, Is it Duplessy 655 ? Is it the Lyon mint that lends to its scarcity? It amazes me that they can pinpoint the exact mint date .... I guess they must have very exact mintage figures?
Yeah it's 655. As to the mintage figures - the French records are very good if someone takes the time to research them. Oddly enough, Gadoury is usually the only one who list them. And I do not have the book for this time period. Mine only go back to 1610. But even Ciani notes that the coin was struck in Nov., he does not however give the date as Duplessy does. There are many coins where the exact mintage date is known. As to scarcity, Duplessy always list the more common issues first.
I've been checking all my internet references and have found a little information, but no mintages. Not many porcupines out there! A little bragging on my part ... but of the 5 or so coins of this type/mint I've found information on, none are even close to the quality of this coin hya: BTW ... "And I do not have the book for this time period. Mine only go back to 1610" .... Which Gadoury book goes back earlier ??
I can't recall the the title but seem to remember one back when I was searching out books on French coinage. Perhaps I am mistaken in that, it was quite a few years ago. I can say this much, in searching for one now I am amazed at what the books cost now ! And I thought they were expensive when I bought them.
One tibit of information I'd like to point out about the coin. How does one know what mint this coin was struck one may ask?? Notice on the reverse the dot or "pellet" just below the legend at 5:00. It is below the "S" which is the 12th letter in the legend. That designates the mint as Lyon !!
