Written by the Maison Or & Bijoux Mougins team · updated
| Country | France |
|---|---|
| Metal | Gold, 917‰ fine (22 carats) |
| Weight of the louis | 6.75 g (1640-1709), 8.158 g (1709-1715, then 1726-1785), 7.649 g (1785-1792); changing weights from 1716 to 1725 |
| Diameter | 22 to 26 mm depending on the type |
| Years struck | 1640 to 1792 (constitutional louis until 1793) |
| Denominations | Half louis, louis, double louis; multiples of 4, 8 and 10 louis in 1640 |
| Mints | A (Paris), D (Lyon), & (Aix-en-Provence), K (Bordeaux), T (Nantes), W (Lille) and some twenty others |
| Engraver | Warin, Roettiers, Duvivier depending on the reign |
| Edge | Milled (plain under Louis XIII) |
| References | Gadoury, Duplessy, Clairand (cited by Numista) |
A small yellow gold coin, a royal profile and a Latin legend: it is almost always a louis, the gold coin of the French monarchy between 1640 and 1792. The design was renewed with each recoinage and the weight changed a great deal, from under 7 g to more than 12 g. With a magnifying glass and a precision scale, most examples can be placed within a few minutes.
The portrait of the sovereign, facing right for Louis XIII and Louis XIV, facing left for Louis XV and Louis XVI. Around it, his titles in abbreviated Latin, for example “LVD. XIIII. D. G. FR. ET NAV. REX” for Louis XIV, by the grace of God King of France and Navarre. On many types, the date and the mint mark can be read below the bust.
The design depends on the type: a cross of eight crowned Ls (Louis XIII and several issues of Louis XIV, including the louis au soleil), four Ls or four fleurs-de-lis, royal insignia, or the shields of France and Navarre, oval on the louis aux lunettes and square on those of 1785 to 1792. The legend is almost always “CHRS. REGN. VINC. IMP.”, short for “Christus regnat, vincit, imperat”: Christ reigns, conquers and commands.
Each row is one type, from the first louis of 1640 to the constitutional louis. The “Weight” column gives the statutory weight as listed in the Numista catalogue: put your coin on a scale accurate to a hundredth of a gram, find the row that matches, then confirm with the reverse design. The same type was not always struck over the same years at every mint.
| Type | Reign | Years | Weight | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Louis d'or with the cross of eight Ls | Louis XIII | 1640-1643 | 6.752 g | First louis, laureate head, engraved by Jean Warin |
| Short lock (mèche courte) | Louis XIV | 1643-1656 | 6.751 g | After 1645, only the Lyon mint still struck it |
| Long lock (mèche longue) | Louis XIV | 1646-1660 | 6.751 g | The child king, with a long curl on the shoulder |
| Bare head (large head) | Louis XIV | 1668-1683 | 6.751 g | Portrait of the adult king |
| With the shield (à l'écu) | Louis XIV | 1690-1693 | 6.751 g | Period of the réformations: older coins restruck |
| Four Ls (aux quatre L) | Louis XIV | 1693-1700 | 6.751 g | Cross of four lilies with four Ls in the angles |
| Eight Ls and insignia | Louis XIV | 1700-1703 | 6.751 g | Royal insignia between the Ls |
| With insignia (aux insignes) | Louis XIV | 1704-1709 | 6.751 g | Exists with short or long hair |
| Sun (au soleil) | Louis XIV | 1709-1715 | 8.158 g | Weight raised; a sun at the centre of the cross |
| With insignia | Louis XV | 1716 | 8.158 g | Two types in the same year |
| Noailles | Louis XV | 1716-1718 | 12.235 g | The heaviest of the ordinary louis |
| Cross of the Holy Spirit | Louis XV | 1718-1719 | 9.79 g | Period of John Law's system |
| Two Ls (aux deux L) | Louis XV | 1720-1723 | 9.79 g | Two interlaced Ls |
| Mirliton | Louis XV | 1723-1725 | 6.525 g | Short palms, then large palms in 1724-1725 |
| Spectacles (aux lunettes) | Louis XV | 1726-1740 | 8.158 g | Two oval shields on the reverse; Aix 1729: 57,000 |
| Headband (au bandeau) | Louis XV | 1740-1774 | 8.158 g | Head bound with a ribbon |
| Old head (vieille tête) | Louis XV | 1771-1774 | 8.11 g | Portrait of the ageing king |
| Palms (aux palmes) | Louis XVI | 1774 | 8.158 g | Single-year type |
| Spectacles (aux lunettes) | Louis XVI | 1774-1785 | 8.14 g | Bust in an embroidered coat |
| Bare head (tête nue) | Louis XVI | 1785-1792 | 7.649 g | Square shields side by side; 1785 reform |
| Constitutional | Louis XVI | 1792-1793 | 7.649 g | 24-livre louis of the constitutional monarchy |
Types, years and weights from Numista, which refers to the Gadoury, Duplessy and Clairand catalogues; Aix 1729 mintage from Coinvarieties. The table leaves out the many portrait varieties of Louis XIV between 1660 and 1690, as well as the louis struck for Béarn.
Hold the coin under a lamp with a 5× or 10× loupe and always work in the same order.
The king first. The numeral after LVD (or LUD) in the obverse legend tells you who he is: XIII, XIIII (sometimes XIV), XV or XVI. The direction of the profile helps when the legend is worn: facing right up to Louis XIV, facing left afterwards.
Then the reverse. A cross of Ls, a sun at the centre, two oval shields that look like a pair of spectacles, two square shields side by side: each design belongs to a short period, often only a few years. The table above lists them in order.
Finally, the mint and the date. The letter identifies the town where the coin was struck: A for Paris, D for Lyon, & for Aix-en-Provence, W for Lille. Depending on the type, it sits below the bust, at the centre of the cross or below the shields. The date, in Arabic numerals, is close by.
The louis never had a single weight. When it was created under Louis XIII, it held about 6.75 g of 22-carat gold. It was struck on a screw press, which produced well-rounded blanks, so a coin clipped at the edge is easy to spot.
The first break came in 1709. To pay for the war, the crown had the coinage melted down and the new louis au soleil rose to 8.158 g. The following decade was unsettled: under the Regency and during John Law's system, the weight climbed to 12.235 g with the Noailles louis, came back down to about 9.79 g, then fell to 6.525 g with the mirliton of 1723.
The edict of January 1726 restored the louis to 8.158 g. This standard lasted almost sixty years, through the louis aux lunettes, au bandeau, à la vieille tête and the first types of Louis XVI. The last reform, in 1785, lowered it to 7.649 g; this is the louis with square shields.
In practice, a coin that is clearly off the weight of its type is not necessarily false, but it has a history. Wear, clipping, a filled hole or fraudulent manufacture: you need to find out which.
The three sizes share the same design. Only the diameter and the weight tell them apart, which is why the scale matters.
The half louis weighs half the louis of its time: about 3.38 g until 1709, around 4.08 g for the sun, spectacles and headband types. Its diameter is around 20 mm.
The double louis was not struck for every series. Numista records it under Louis XIII, for the Louis XIV types with the shield, four Ls, insignia and sun, for the mirliton, headband and old head of Louis XV, and for the two main types of Louis XVI. The double louis with square shields measures about 28 mm.
Separately, the Paris Mint produced multiples of 4, 8 and 10 louis in 1640, intended for gifts and ceremonies. They were not used in everyday payments.
The same reasoning applies to each size: king, reverse, letter, date, then a weight check.
Traces of an earlier design. Between 1690 and the early 1700s, the mints often restruck louis already in circulation with a new type instead of melting them down: these are the réformations. Ghost letters or outlines then show beneath the main design. This is a feature of the period, recorded in the catalogues, not recent work.
Varieties followed by collectors. The mirliton exists with short palms and with large palms; the Louis XIV louis with insignia is found with short or long hair.
Coins that went through the jeweller's. Many louis were set in a brooch or hung from a chain. A torn-off loop, solder on the edge or a filled hole greatly reduces their interest to collectors, without making them counterfeits.
Imitations. Copies exist in low-grade gold and in gilt metal. Check the weight to the hundredth of a gram, the diameter with callipers and the sharpness of the lettering, which is often soft on a copy.
A mix-up of words. Many families call the 19th-century 20 francs gold coins “louis”. A legend in French and a denomination in francs point to a napoléon, not a royal louis.
On the portrait side, look at the highest points: the hair above the ear, the laurel or the headband, the cheekbone. On the louis of Louis XV and Louis XVI, the curls merge into one another long before the profile flattens.
On the reverse, the crowns above the shields or the Ls are the best witness. Their pearls can be read one by one on a lightly worn coin; they form a smooth band on a louis that has circulated for a long time. The fleurs-de-lis on the shields also lose their edges.
A field covered in fine parallel scratches is a sign of rubbing or cleaning, which lowers the grade. A milled edge that is flattened in places suggests the coin was once mounted. Never clean a gold coin: show it as it is to a numismatist.
Under the Ancien Régime, Mougins was a Provençal village held by the Abbey of Lérins, lord of the place until the Revolution. In Provence, the Aix mint, marked &, struck louis d'or: published records give, for example, 57,000 louis aux lunettes dated 1729 &. Just across the Var, the County of Nice belonged to the House of Savoy until the Treaty of Turin in 1860, and accounts there were kept in Piedmontese écus and later in lire, not in louis. The louis that turn up in family estates around Grasse may have circulated and been handed down long after they were struck.
No. Removing it often leaves marks on the edge. Show the coin as it is to a numismatist, who can identify it without taking it out of the mount.
Not necessarily. The weight changed with the reforms: about 6.75 g before 1709, 8.158 g for the sun type and from 1726 to 1785, 7.649 g after 1785. Compare each coin with the weight of its own type.
It abbreviates the Latin motto “Christus regnat, vincit, imperat”: Christ reigns, conquers and commands. It appears on almost every louis.
Yes. It stands for the Aix-en-Provence mint. Other mints also used symbols or double letters instead of a single letter.