Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Écu au soleil - Francis I of France
| Issuer | Mint of Genoa |
|---|---|
| Year | 1527-1528 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Genovino (1139-1528) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Central field dominated by the crowned royal cypher of Francis I, comprising an elaborate interlaced monogram surmounted by a fleur-de-lis above the crown. To the left of the monogram appears the letter F, and to the right a fleur-de-lis, all within a beaded inner circle. The surrounding legend in Gothic lettering reads FRANCISCVS DEI GRA REX FRANCOR F, identifying the issuer as Francis I, King of France. The coin exhibits the characteristic irregular flan and bold relief typical of early sixteenth-century hammered gold coinage. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | FRANCISCVS DEI GRA REX FRANCOR F |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Francis I occupied Genoa intermittently through his Italian campaigns, and this issue belongs to the brief French administration of the city following the collapse of the short-lived Genoese republic under Antoniotto Adorno. The French crown operated the Genoese mint under royal authority during these years, producing écu au soleil coinage consistent with the domestic French type but struck with local dies — a practical assertion of administrative control rather than any deliberate monetary reform.
Genoa fell back out of French hands in 1528 when Andrea Doria defected to Charles V, ending this mint's production under Francis entirely. The two-year window makes genuine examples from this issuer considerably scarcer than their Paris or Lyon counterparts.