1 Louis d'Or - Louis XVI

Louis XVI was crowned in May 1774, and the first Louis d'or struck in his name appeared within months of his accession — the dies prepared before the old king was even buried. This issue belongs to the earliest type of his coinage, the "buste juvénile" portrait authorized immediately upon succession, before the more familiar laureate bust types replaced it later in the reign.

The Dy royales 1702 reference places this squarely in Droulers' taxonomy of the young-bust series. Fewer than two decades after this coin entered circulation, the Paris Mint would be striking Revolutionary assignat-backing coinage from melted royal gold.