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1⁄16 Ecu of Flanders with palm branches - Louis XIV

Issuer Royal French Mint
Year 1693-1699
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Value 1⁄16 Silver Ecu
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Obverse script Latin
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Reverse description Crowned quartered shield of France and Navarre at center, flanked on either side by an ornamental palm branch, the whole composition being the Ecu of Flanders type. The royal arms display the fleurs-de-lis of France in two quarters and the chains of Navarre in the other two. The encircling legend SIT. NOMEN. DOMINI BENEDICTVM appears around the shield, with the mint date below. The palm branches frame the shield symmetrically, lending a formal heraldic elegance to the design.
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Additional information

Louis XIV's 1693 monetary reform overhauled the entire French silver coinage system, introducing a standardized ecu family that ran from the full ecu down through fractional denominations. The 1/16 ecu was the smallest of these fractions — practical small change for a kingdom fighting the Nine Years' War on multiple fronts and badly needing fungible coinage at every level of commerce. Flanders, only partially under French control after a series of treaties and military campaigns, warranted its own regional type with the palm branch privy marks distinguishing its output from metropolitan mints.

The series ran until 1699, the year of the Treaty of Ryswick's economic aftermath fully settled into the monetary system.

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