Catalog
1 Thaler - Louis I
| Issuer | Monaco |
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| Year | 1668 |
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| Composition | Silver |
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| Obverse description | Armored knight standing three-quarters facing right, wearing plumed helmet and holding a large heraldic shield charged with a rampant lion. The figure is rendered in a baroque style with elaborate drapery and decorative scroll-work framing the composition. A beaded inner circle borders the central design, with the Latin legend distributed around the periphery. The shield and knight together form the principal armorial device of the Grimaldi lords of Monaco. |
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| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
Monaco's 1668 thaler is a product of Louis I's early reign — he had assumed the lordship just a year prior following the death of Honoré II, who had spent decades maneuvering the principality away from Spanish suzerainty and toward French protection. The thaler denomination itself was something of an anomaly for Monaco, reflecting the commercial currency conventions of broader European trade rather than any indigenous monetary tradition.
The Gadoury reference MC79 places this among the rarest Monaco silver issues of the seventeenth century. Surviving examples are sparse enough that auction appearances routinely draw significant specialist interest regardless of grade.