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12 Deniers - Louis XV
| Issuer | Monnaie de Paris |
|---|---|
| Year | 1767 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 12.5 g |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | At center, the royal arms of France — a shield semé of fleurs-de-lis arranged in three rows — surmounted by a royal crown. The shield is flanked by two laurel branches joined at the base, forming a wreath. The date 1767 appears in the upper portion of the circular legend, which reads SIT NOMEN DOMINI BENEDICTUM (Blessed be the name of the Lord). A finely milled border runs along the coin's rim. |
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| Reverse lettering | SIT NOMEN DOMINI BENEDICTUM |
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| Additional information |
The 12 deniers copper coinage of Louis XV was part of a broader effort to regularize France's chaotic small-change supply, which had been plagued for decades by an abundance of worn, clipped, and counterfeit billon pieces. By the 1760s, the Crown had largely abandoned billon for base copper in these minor denominations — a pragmatic concession to the reality that small transactions required a currency that couldn't be profitably debased any further.
The Zay reference places this among a well-catalogued series, but survivors in collectible condition are genuinely uncommon; copper coinage of this period circulated hard in a subsistence economy where the denier still bought something.