Catalog
5 Sols - Louis I
| Issuer | Monaco |
|---|---|
| Year | 1662-1664 |
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| Orientation | Coin alignment ↑↓ |
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| Obverse description | Draped and armored bust of the young Louis I, Prince of Monaco, facing right with long flowing curled hair falling over the shoulders, rendered in the baroque portrait style typical of mid-17th century coinage. The effigy displays plate armor with decorative pauldron detail visible at the truncation. The encircling Latin legend reads ·LVD· I· D: G· PRI· MONOECI·, separated by pellets, running along the toothed border. |
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| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
Louis I ruled Monaco under French protection following the 1641 Treaty of Péronne, which had shifted the Grimaldi allegiance away from Spain after nearly a century of Castilian suzerainty. The right to strike silver coinage was among the most jealously guarded privileges that treaty preserved for the principality, and this issue was produced during the early years of Louis's consolidation of that autonomy.
The two-year production window is narrow, and surviving examples in any meaningful grade are genuinely scarce — Monaco's tiny output never approached the volume of contemporary French royal mints.