1/4 Ecu of Flanders with insignia - Louis XIV pointy shield

Louis XIV's quart d'écu issues for Flanders were struck as occupied-territory coinage following France's absorption of much of the Spanish Netherlands through the Treaties of Aix-la-Chapelle and Nijmegen. By 1705, the War of the Spanish Succession had thrown those territorial gains back into question — French forces were under pressure across the Low Countries, and the Flemish mints were operating in a region that would change hands before the decade was out.

The "pointy shield" variant distinguishes this type from the earlier rounded escutcheon issues, a die modification introduced in the later years of the series. Utrecht's 1713 settlement ultimately stripped France of most Flemish holdings.