1703 French 1/8 Crown?

rfogg

I am a newbie to this forum and have inherited a substantial collection from my grandfather. Would anyone know what this coin is? I can post a pic if it helps. Thanks.

ajaan

Images help a lot.

laurentyvan

Montrez-nous l'image s'il vous plait.

ajaan

Too slow Laurent.

laurentyvan

Merde!

tbirde56

We'd need a better description and/or picture. What are the inscriptions and the size of the coin, etc?

Steve27

You can't say " Merde" on this forum.

ajaan

You can only say merde if you say it in French.

cosmicdebris

Welcome aboard Randy

rfogg

Here's the 1703 Images. Hope this helps.





Sorry they are so large. Still trying my scanning capabilities.

tbirde56

It has the Strasbourg mint mark (BB) and most resembles the design of an Ecu but doesn't match up in my Krause catalog. How large is the coin?

rfogg

<< <i>It has the Strasbourg mint mark (BB) and most resembles the design of an Ecu but doesn't match up in my Krause catalog. How large is the coin? >>



About the size of a Merc Dime. Does this help?

Askari

Well, my best guess is the 5 Sol (1/16 Ecu) [KM 337.4] but I can't read the obv. legend in my Krause. Usually this design type has "LUD XIIII", not "L XIIII", but I'm no expert in this area and don't know for sure at what denomination the coin became so small that they might have had to abbreviate the abbreviation.

GDJMSP

I too would say 1/16 ECU - but they do have LUD XIIII

rfogg

<< <i>I too would say 1/16 ECU - but they do have LUD XIIII >>



Pardon my complete ignorance on this matter, but what is an EUD? and the package it came in said French 1/8 Crown. Does it have any worth at all?

MadMuffin

Whatever it is it does have some value. Small French silver coins from that era are usually found in very worn condition and yours look relatively good.

The ECU was the French crown. It was a large silver coin with a weight of around 28 gram. Small change coins had their denomination stated as fractions of a full Ecu - that is why your small coin is either a 1/8th or a 1/16th ecu.

When the text of the coin does not fully match the coin in the catalog picture that is not an uncommon sight with old coins. Die varieties are common. I cannot look it up myself as I don't have an 18th cent. catalog, but as far as I can see the coin is a 1/16th ecu. Perhaps some of the guys with a catalog could give you an approximate value.

Marcel

Askari

If it's the KM 337.4, as I speculated, my 2nd Edn. Krause 18th Century catalog lists it as $4 in VG, $10 in F, $20 in VF, and $50 in XF. As Madmuffin noted, though, the Krause catalogs for these older coins are nowhere near complete, and it's not uncommon to see "not listed in Krause" noted with coins offered for sale. It could be a previously unknown variety or even a rare mule -- a coin made from mismatched dies -- in which case it could be worth more than I've listed. Unfortunately, only a specialist in this area could tell you better.

Why is yours labeled a "1/8 Crown"? It's hard to say. It might even be correct. Perhaps you can provide a more accurate size measurement. The 5 Sols is 21mm in diameter and the 10 Sols (1/8 Ecu) is only 23mm, so they could be easily confused. My guess was based on the fact that Krause does not list any 10 Sols as being issued by the Strasbourg Mint -- which could simply be an oversight on Krause's part. Moreover, my "best guess" was also based on the fact that "abbreviations of abbreviations" are more likely to show up on smaller coins. If yours is a 1/8 Ecu, the corresponding catalog no. would be KM 349.x and the listed values for that are -- roughly, since there's no info for a BB -- $9-12 in VG, $22-30 for F, $45-65 in VF, and $120-160 in XF. Mind you, these aren't for exactly your coin, which quite likely would be greater.


BTW, welcome!!