Catalog
Pezzetta ou 3 sols à l'écu
| Issuer | Principality of Monaco |
|---|---|
| Year | 1673-1683 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | 25 mm |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Crowned shield bearing the arms of Monaco — the lozengy field of argent and gules of the Grimaldi family — displayed at center, surmounted by a princely coronet with elaborate foliate ornaments. The inscription D. IVAN appears on a label or band across the shield. The surrounding circular Latin legend, divided by the crowned shield, reads DVX. VALENT. PAR. FRANCIÆ &c., with the date 1673 incorporated into the legend at the top of the coin. The overall composition is characteristic of late seventeenth-century heraldic coinage. |
| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
Louis I of Monaco struck these bilion pieces during a period when the principality's coinage rights were perpetually contested — France pressured Monaco repeatedly to abandon independent minting, and the pezzetta was among the last denominations produced before those rights were effectively curtailed. The "3 sols à l'écu" valuation reflects a dual-system accounting common in Mediterranean microstates, where local tariffing coexisted uneasily with French monetary ordinances.
The Gadoury MC48 attribution covers the full decade of issue, masking what are likely multiple die marriages across the run.