France - A Doublestruck Ecu

Nice! Can you tell what the overstruck coin was?

Humm. I've taken a better look, and weighed it.

I now think it is a 1/2 Ecu, partly because it weighs just under 1/2 Ecu target (13.21gms vs target of 13.544gms).

As for ill-formed lettering, I really couldn't say.


Bill

This is a great historical coin of the kind that I like to collect. You have a demi-ecu of Louis XIIII that appears to be a triple over strike. The obverse shows Louis XIIII struck upside down then turned 180 degrees and double struck right side up. The reverse shows and misses much information oriented at about 9:00 o'clock in the picture. I think I see some palm leaves from a demi-ecu aux palmes (prior to 1700), then a strong strike of a demi-ecu aux insignes with the date 1701 which is clear but with "Atelier illisibles" ( no mint mark) which should appear near 9:00 under the circle, and finally a third overstrike of a demi-ecu aux huit "L" second type (1704-1709) but with "Date et atelier illisibles." The 1701 date shows through from the middle overstrike, not from the last. I like to collect these with three clear (and different) dates which sometimes happens as overstrikes often leave information at the rim from under types clearly visible. This coin dropped from circulation in France at the time that Dumas writes about at the outset of his blockbuster historical saga about Three Musketeers. Having three powerful overstrikes devoted to maintaining and restoring the image of King Louis XIII, the motto "all-for-one-and-one-for-all" fits this coin nicely.

Thanks thq, for the pictures of similar but different half Ecus.

Thanks also, Pistereen, for describing what happened to this coin. I was having trouble identifying the understrike, never thinking that there might be two of them.


I have few overstrikes. I mostly collect dramatic doublestrikes, like the French crown shown at https://goccf.com/t/182109&SearchTerms=french



Cheers,
Bill