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1/2 Écu - Louis XIII 1st portrait
| Issuer | Monnaie de Paris |
|---|---|
| Year | 1641-1642 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1/2 Silver Ecu |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Laureate and draped bust of Louis XIII facing right, rendered in high relief with long flowing hair in the accomplished style of engraver Jean Warin. The effigy is positioned centrally within the field, with the shoulder truncation visible at the lower margin. A toothed inner border frames the design. The circumferential Latin legend LVDOVICVS XIII D G FR ET NAV REX — identifying the king as Louis XIII, by the grace of God, King of France and Navarre — runs clockwise, punctuated by pellet stops. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | At the centre of the field, a shield semé of fleurs-de-lis representing the royal arms of France is surmounted by an elaborate closed royal crown with fleurons and arches, rendered in fine detail. The mint mark A, denoting the Paris mint, appears at the base of the legend. The circumferential Latin legend SIT NOMEN DOMINI BENEDICTVM — 'Blessed be the name of the Lord' — runs clockwise, punctuated by pellet stops, followed by the date 1642. A toothed inner border frames the entire reverse design. |
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| Additional information |
The 1641 monetary reform ordered by Louis XIII — engineered largely by his finance ministers struggling to fund the Thirty Years' War — overhauled the écu coinage and introduced this short-lived first portrait type. It was superseded almost immediately by a second portrait in 1642, making the production window for this specific type exceptionally narrow. Some mint facilities had barely retooled before the dies were obsolete.
France operated numerous provincial mints in this period, and identifying the striking facility from the mint mark is often the more consequential attribution exercise with this type than assessing condition alone.