Here is a new coin I just received France Ecu d'or au Dauphine ND (1515-1547) Francois I - Fr. 354 NGC AU-58 Nice full luster, nice strike on the devices but a little weakness in the legends. Planchet is a little short. Will match well with my Ecu d'or au Porcepic
What would something like this would buy in 1550 France? That is a really nice looking coin & piece of history. (Nice picture too). I was just thinking about the wealthy person(s) back in the 16th Century that must have handled this coin. They would have it in their strong box or in a pocket worn around the waist. I wonder what something like that would buy in 1550 France?
I have some information on that somewhere.... I'll find it and post it later. GDJMSP ... didn't you quote something about the comparative value of the gold ducat back then in your CoinShow interview?
Not really. What you are thinking of was a reference I made to what a ducat would have been worth in US money back when ducats were still being used - circa 1800's. Answer was $2.50. But what Collect is asking is a much more complicated question. Not that I can't answer it, just that it takes a lot of work to answer it. I have several studies done on the buying power of money, wages, what foodstuffs, textiles, candles etc etc all cost, that cover many different periods in time. One of those being 1500-1550. Anyone that wants, I will send a copy of the study so they can figure it out on their own. Just PM me your email address. But to give you an idea - a ducat in 1540 would buy 23 liters of red wine. 16.3 kilos of butter. 26.3 kilos of salted beef. etc etc etc. But a ducat, going by memory here, is less than half the size of the coin posted by Conrad - the Henri D'Or.
I didn't think of it until a few hours after I posted but I made a reference to a Henri D'Or - and it isn't of course. It's a Franqois D'or. And Conrad, while using the Fr. 354 catalog number is technically correct, there is something special about this coin I did not notice until now. As I'm sure you probably know, or will very soon check, there are many varieties for this coin. The obverse is set apart and defined by the crowned R which signifies the Saint-Andre de Villeneuve-les-Avignon mint. That would make this coin a Dupplessy #782 or Ciani 1082. However, the reverse has an extra R on it - between INPERAT and the crowned R at 12 o'clock. That R is normally only found on Duplessy #788. And #788 also has 2 additional dauphins in the angles of the cross. Your coin of course does not have those extra 2 dauphins on the reverse. I suspect my friend that you have an entirely new variety here
Thanks for pointing that out Doug:thumb: I haven't began my research but I'm sure eager to do so know !!
Doug, I think I have found a match http://vso.numishop.com/fiche-v37_0101-vso_mo-1-FRANCIS_I_Ecu_d_or_au_soleil_du_Dauphine_1er_type_21_07_1519.html It list the mint as "Romans" which is also how is listed in my reference book. What I take from the description in the cgb.fr site the extra R on the reverse legend is the Mint Mark (Mm) for Romans ??
No, it isn't. The boys at cgb have made an oops this time. But then so did I. I wil agree with them about the mint, the coin was struck at Romans, not Saint-Andre de Villeneuve-les-Avignon. But the mint mark for Romans is the crowned R. The reason I made my mistake is because when I checked the list of mint marks in both Duplessy and Ciani they said R was the mm for Saint-Andre de Villeneuve-les-Avignon. But that is a plain R. In checking more closely the mm for Romans is typically a Y, that's part of why I missed it the first time. But Romans also used the crowned R as their mint mark. This is confirmed in every book I have. I readily agree that the coin you found on cgb matches your coin. But everything else I said about the design for the various varieties is true. This one matches none of the varieties listed in any of the books. Both of these coins have an extra R on them.
