Gold Louis with four Ls - Louis XIV

The "quatre L" louis d'or was introduced by the 1690 monetary edict as part of Louis XIV's desperate effort to refinance debts accumulated during the Nine Years' War against the Grand Alliance. The interlaced monogram design was itself a deliberate departure from the portrait type — a cost-cutting measure, since effigy dies wore faster and required more frequent replacement.

Paris production ran across multiple die marriages under several mint wardens, and attributing pieces to specific years within the 1693–1700 window often depends on the position of the mint mark and privy marks rather than any dated legend.