Coin Pièce France sizain Copper Louis XIV 1655

The Sixain of 1655 is a coin struck during the reign of Louis XIV under the administration of the County of Barcelona, a territory annexed to the French crown following the political and military events of the Thirty Years' War and the Catalan Revolt. This monetary issue reflects the royal will to assert numismatic sovereignty over the territories newly administered by France on the Iberian Peninsula.

Despite the designation "Louis XIII" appearing in the full title of the coin, this 1655 strike was indeed minted during the reign of Louis XIV, which may be explained by the temporary retention of earlier monetary types or by an administrative transition specific to the mint workshops of the Catalan region.

The coin is made of copper, a metal characteristic of divisional and low-denomination coinage in circulation during the 17th century. The sixain, worth six deniers, represents a common monetary subdivision within the French numismatic system of the Ancien Régime, intended for everyday transactions.

Physically, this coin features a diameter of 20 millimetres and a weight of 3.67 grams, dimensions consistent with the minting standards for copper coins of this period. These metric characteristics allow it to be identified and distinguished from other contemporary issues of the same denomination.