Louis XIV was nine years old when this coin entered production in 1643 — the year his father died and Anne of Austria assumed the regency with Cardinal Mazarin effectively governing France. The "short wick" designation refers to the truncation style of the child-king portrait, distinguishing it from later bust types as the young king aged through the decade. These issues span the entire period of the Fronde, the civil wars that forced the royal court to flee Paris twice and very nearly unraveled the Bourbon monarchy before Louis ever ruled in his own name.
Louis XIV was nine years old when this coin entered production in 1643 — the year his father died and Anne of Austria assumed the regency with Cardinal Mazarin effectively governing France. The "short wick" designation refers to the truncation style of the child-king portrait, distinguishing it from later bust types as the young king aged through the decade. These issues span the entire period of the Fronde, the civil wars that forced the royal court to flee Paris twice and very nearly unraveled the Bourbon monarchy before Louis ever ruled in his own name.