Coin France Liard of France with juvenile bust - Louis XIV - 1657 - I Limoges

Copper Liard de France struck at Limoges (mint mark I) in 1657, during the reign of Louis XIV (1643?1715), the Sun King, then aged 19. This modest copper coin represents the lowest denomination of 17th-century French royal coinage ? an everyday coin that passed through the hands of the French people throughout the Ancien Régime.

The obverse features the juvenile crowned, draped and cuirassed bust of Louis XIV facing right, engraved by the renowned Jean Warin, with the inscription ?L? XIIII? ROY? DE? FR? ET? DE? NA? 1657?. The reverse displays the legend LIARD DE FRANCE on four lines, with three fleurs-de-lis arranged two and one around the mint letter I (Limoges). The edge is plain.

The Limoges mint, one of the great royal mints of central France, struck these liards under the royal ordinance of 1654, which reorganised the kingdom's copper coinage.

Grade: B ? heavily worn but identifiable coin, portrait and legends partially visible, uniform old copper patina, an authentic relic of the Ancien Régime.