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1/2 Écu - Louis XVI 'FRANÇAIS'
| Issuer | Monnaie de Paris |
|---|---|
| Year | 1792-1793 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1/2 Silver Ecu |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Bare-headed effigy of Louis XVI facing left, with elaborately curled hair tied at the nape with a ribbon bow, engraved by Pierre-Benjamin Duvivier in a refined neoclassical style. A small engraver's mark appears below the truncation of the neck. The circular legend reads LOUIS XVI ROI DES FRANÇAIS, with the date 1792 positioned in the lower exergue beneath the portrait. The coin's milled border frames the design with a fine toothed rim. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
The 'FRANÇAIS' title on this coin marks a precise constitutional moment: from September 1791, Louis XVI ruled not by divine right but as "King of the French" under the new constitutional monarchy, a distinction the coinage was legally required to reflect. These were among the last silver coins struck in his name before the mint ceased royal issues entirely following the abolition of the monarchy in August 1792. Production at Paris continued into early 1793 on existing dies — by which point Louis was already imprisoned in the Temple.
He was guillotined on 21 January 1793.