Catalog
1/2 Ecu - Louis I
| Issuer | Monaco |
|---|---|
| Year | 1663 |
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| Currency | Livre tournois (781-1795) |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Crowned shield of the Grimaldi arms, displaying the characteristic lozengy pattern of alternating argent and gules arranged in seven columns of diamonds across the escutcheon. The heraldic crown surmounts the shield with elaborate floral finials. A Latin legend encircles the design, incorporating the date 1663 at the top of the field, within a milled border. |
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| Reverse lettering | .DVX.VALENT.PAR .Ꞩ. FRANCIÆ.&c. 1663 |
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| Additional information |
Louis I ruled Monaco under French protection following the 1641 Treaty of Péronne, which ended nearly a century of Spanish suzerainty over the principality. His coinage — struck in his own name with full sovereign pretension — was a direct expression of that newly secured autonomy. Very few pieces from this reign survive in any condition; Monaco's tiny population meant limited domestic circulation, and the coins were never produced in quantities approaching those of neighboring French mints.
Gadoury MC56 is among the scarcer Monégasque issues of the seventeenth century.