A 'what the heck is this coin' thread

ajaan

and is it really from the 16th C? Looking through an old box of coins I had hanging around here and come across this one.

lordmarcovan

French. 18th century, not 16th.

lordmarcovan

In fact, you can see one of those Revolutionary "L'An" dates in the exergue on the reverse, though the date numeral appears to be repunched or overstruck and is difficult to read. I suppose that puts it in the 1790s, and the ghostly silhouette on the obverse would be the unlucky Louis XVI.

ajaan

I guess the I5 is a denomination then. It can't be unluckly Louis on the obverse if it is a revolutionary coin. The Robespierre type guys didn't think too highly of Louis.

Thanks for the ID.

P.S. this is one of the rare cases where my image looks better than the coin

lordmarcovan

France, 15 sols (1/8 ecu). One of the KM604 types. .666 silver/.1071 oz. ASW. Circa 1791-92, most likely. I can almost make out the dates in the pic. There is the Revolutionary date and the regular date below that, I think.



<< <i>It can't be unluckly Louis on the obverse if it is a revolutionary coin. >>

Au contraire, mon ami- that is indeed Unlucky Louis on the obverse. For the first year or two (before they chopped it off), the Revolutionary types kept his head on the coinage, though he was technically deposed by that time, I suppose. This was struck under the First Republic. Under the Second Republic, they started putting Marianne on there.

ajaan

Thanks, I stand corrected, it is Louis.

Ricke

here's a similar type I picked up from Civitas last year.

lordmarcovan

Thanks, Ricke. Nice comparison coin.

Are those adjustment marks on the obverse of yours, or did somebody deface Louis?

It looks like it has decent luster. Nice to see where the mintmark would be. The little, grainy picture I had in Krause wasn't much help.

Ricke

Adjustment marks.

It has real nice luster. Definately one of my favorite coins.

Weiss

<< <i>In fact, you can see one of those Revolutionary "L'An" dates in the exergue on the reverse, though the date numeral appears to be repunched or overstruck and is difficult to read. I suppose that puts it in the 1790s, and the ghostly silhouette on the obverse would be the unlucky Louis XVI. >>



You said "exergue".

SYRACUSIAN

Nice ID Rob, this is one worn coin. I too like Ricke's example.

lordmarcovan

Speaking of First Republic coins with Louis XVI and dual-calendar dating, here is the 12-denier piece I had laying around.

Note that it says "(Year) 4 of Liberty" alongside the 1792 date.