Ecu with juvenile bust - Louis XIV 1st mark

Louis XIV was fifteen when he nominally assumed personal rule in 1643, but the French crown's coinage didn't reflect his actual consolidation of power until after Mazarin's death in 1661. This ecu series, introduced the following year, was the first major silver reform under his direct authority — part of a broader monetary reorganization that standardized the ecu across French mints at a moment when provincial coinage had grown dangerously inconsistent.

The "juvenile bust" designation distinguishes this from the later bust types that would follow as engravers updated the royal portrait across the reign's decades. The 1st mark specifically identifies the Paris mint's initial punch, making die-link attribution to Warin's workshop feasible on well-preserved examples.