|
This page may contain links that result in small commissions to keep this free site up and running.
Welcome Guest! Need help? Got a question? Inherit some coins?
Our coin forum is completely free! Register Now!
erafjel's Last 20 Posts
How Far Back Can We Go? Seventh Edition!
|
erafjel
Pillar of the Community
Sweden
1517 Posts |
Posted 09/17/2023 5:22 pm
|
Last coin from me for a while.
France 1642, écu d'or, Louis XIII, Paris (A).

The old gold écus continued to be minted until 1654, from 1640 in parallel with the new louis d'ors. Most (until 1640 all) écu d'ors were hammered, but this one is minted in Paris, where the new mechanized technique was used also for the old type of coins. |
| Forum: Main Coin Forum |
|
How Far Back Can We Go? Seventh Edition!
|
erafjel
Pillar of the Community
Sweden
1517 Posts |
Posted 09/17/2023 06:17 am
|
And another French feudal from me:
Principality of Dombes 1642, double tournois, Gaston d'Orléans.

Gaston was brother to French king Louis XIII. His use of three fleurs-de-lys (with a cadet branch label on top) was thus legitimate, in contrast to some other feudal copy cats (like Frédéric-Henri of Orange, whose coat of arms had no likeness to the three fleur-de-lys-like thingies on his coins). |
| Forum: Main Coin Forum |
|
How Far Back Can We Go? Seventh Edition!
|
erafjel
Pillar of the Community
Sweden
1517 Posts |
Posted 09/16/2023 08:54 am
|
France 1643, double tournois, Louis XIII, Corbeil (A).

In a temporary mint located in Corbeil, a bit south of Paris, the last royal double deniers* were minted in 1643. Two deniers tournois (1/360 of the écu shown above) was becoming too small a sum to be useful for anything much. (Still, single deniers were minted until 1649.)
* Double deniers valid only in Alsace and Saar were minted in Strasbourg by special decree 1696-1708.
|
| Forum: Main Coin Forum |
|
How Far Back Can We Go? Seventh Edition!
|
erafjel
Pillar of the Community
Sweden
1517 Posts |
Posted 09/16/2023 07:15 am
|
That is a real beauty, Spence!
France 1643, écu, Louis XIII, Paris (A).

1643 also saw coins with Louis XIII. He was the one who introduced the silver écu d'argent in 1641, together with the gold louis d'or. The écu was made to correspond to the internationally accepted thaler, while the louis d'or was compatible with the Spanish double escudo (also called doubloon or pistole). |
| Forum: Main Coin Forum |
|
How Far Back Can We Go? Seventh Edition!
|
erafjel
Pillar of the Community
Sweden
1517 Posts |
Posted 09/16/2023 05:18 am
|
France 1643, écu, Louis XIV, Paris (A).

The first écu with the new king. Louis XIV ascended the throne in 1643, 5 years old, after his father, Louis XIII, had died from tuberculosis at the age of 41. One écu was valued at 3 livres. With that you could buy 6 kilos of beef or one pheasant, depending on what you fancied.  |
| Forum: Main Coin Forum |
|
How Far Back Can We Go? Seventh Edition!
|
erafjel
Pillar of the Community
Sweden
1517 Posts |
Posted 09/15/2023 08:52 am
|
Very nice jetons, 1c5d7n5m! 
Here is Louis again, even smaller 
France 1644, 1/48 écu, Louis XIV, Paris (A). Silver, 0.57 g, 12.5 mm

A real tiny coin - there is no smaller coin minted in France after that. With the same silver fineness as the écu (917/1000) and valued at only 15 deniers, it had to be that small. Despite its small size, it was not a completely insignificant coin - it would buy a pound of bread or a few eggs. It was minted only 1642-44 and probably wasn't very popular - it must have been really easy to lose.
To get an idea of its size, here it is side by side with the larger denominations (and a dime):
 |
| Forum: Main Coin Forum |
|
How Far Back Can We Go? Seventh Edition!
|
erafjel
Pillar of the Community
Sweden
1517 Posts |
Posted 09/15/2023 05:50 am
|
Quote: Livonia, Swedish occupation of Christina (r. 1632-54) billon solidus, 1645
this specific example is probably original. Agreed, this is an original. The Suceava copies are not well executed, more cartoonish in the rendering of the lion, for instance.
Quote:Quote: Ermine surrounded by six young Are those baby ermines or just tails of adults? I had been thinking the latter, but I'm happy to be corrected. Heraldic ermine tails, definitely.
Lovely 3 kreuzers, Spence! 
I have a couple of coins from 1644. Here is the first, a quarter écu.
France 1644, 1/4 écu, Louis XIV, Paris (A). Silver, 6.9 g, 27 mm.
 |
| Forum: Main Coin Forum |
|
How Far Back Can We Go? Seventh Edition!
|
erafjel
Pillar of the Community
Sweden
1517 Posts |
Posted 09/10/2023 08:35 am
|
Quote: though some French feudal states continued to make theirs for a few more years Yes, that is true. They apparently had smaller business needs than the royal subjects!  |
| Forum: Main Coin Forum |
|
How Far Back Can We Go? Seventh Edition!
|
erafjel
Pillar of the Community
Sweden
1517 Posts |
Posted 09/10/2023 01:55 am
|
France 1649, 1 denier tournois, Louis XIV, Paris (A).

1649 was the last year that 1 denier coins were minted. It was the smallest denomination, 1/240 of a livre, and was of little use even as small change (it was about one third of an English farthing). It was minted in 1648 and 1649 only and circulated only in the provinces. |
| Forum: Main Coin Forum |
|
1613 Double Tournois - Repro Or Real?
|
erafjel
Pillar of the Community
Sweden
1517 Posts |
Posted 09/09/2023 2:21 pm
|
It looks perfectly alright. These coins were milled, so they usually look good. The nominal weight for the double tournois was 3.14 grams so 3.25 grams is completely within limits. |
| Forum: World Coin Grading |
|
Really Old Roman Coin (Id: Antoninianus By Emperor Tetricus I)
|
erafjel
Pillar of the Community
Sweden
1517 Posts |
Posted 09/09/2023 04:34 am
|
Yes, it is a genuine antoninianus by emperor Tetricus I, minted sometime 271-274, probably in Cologne or Trier. Here is some more data about this type: http://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric....i.56?lang=en
As you can see from the numerous examples on that page, it is not an uncommon coin. The Romans minted large numbers of these, and many have survived until today. What makes your example a bit more interesting, is its provenance, that it is known to be from a hoard, the one found in Mossy Bottom Barn in 1999. A value could be somewhere around 10 €.
|
| Forum: Ancient, Greek, Roman, and Medieval Coins |
|
How Far Back Can We Go? Seventh Edition!
|
erafjel
Pillar of the Community
Sweden
1517 Posts |
Posted 09/06/2023 11:06 am
|
Quote: So copper liards were struck in Low Countries for some time before France? Yes, I think Spanish Netherlands may have been first (?) with copper liards, around 1580. A number of nearby French feudal states, like Arches & Charleville and Château-Regnault, followed in the early 1600s. They were probably an inspiration for the French royal coinage. The very first royal liard test coins in copper were issued in 1649 (I don't have one, eight known examples ... ). |
| Forum: Main Coin Forum |
|
Bronze Plaque, French. Any Ideas?
|
erafjel
Pillar of the Community
Sweden
1517 Posts |
Posted 09/04/2023 6:16 pm
|
I have scratched my head over this for a while, and I think I have got some names out of it at least, all associated with the Pyrenees.
Upper left I think is SARBAT (not SARRAT), which is a surname used in the Pyrenees.
Middle center, SALEGHAN, could be SALECHAN, and there is a commune Saléchan just north of the Pyrenees.
Bottom line I think is MAULEON BSE HES PEE, which probably means Mauléon-Barousse Hautes-Pyrénées. Mauléon-Barousse is another commune, very close to Saléchan. Hautes-Pyrénées is the department to which those two communes belong. |
| Forum: Identification: Unidentified Coins, Medals, and Tokens |
|
|
Coin Community Forum |
© 2005 - 2023 Coin Community Forums |
It took 0.43 seconds to rattle this change. |
 |
|