1/4 Ecu with 8 Ls - Louis XIV 2nd type

This type was struck under the monetary reform of 1704, when Louis XIV — facing chronic war finance pressures from the War of the Spanish Succession — overhauled the coinage system and introduced the eight-L mark configuration to distinguish reformed issues from the debased emissions of preceding years. The reform was partly fiscal sleight of hand: the crown profited from the recoinage by calling in older pieces at below-face value.

Multiple provincial mints struck this type simultaneously, so die quality and strike consistency vary considerably by mint letter — a detail worth checking against Gadoury's mint attribution tables before cataloging.