Discovery of portrait and die variants of the 1/2 Écu of 3 livres Louis XVI
This article is the continuation of my work on Louis XVI silver Sols. Read the full article on the 15 Sols, showing and explaining in detail each element common to what I am going to show here: https://www.all-your-coins.com/fr/blog/moderne/france-royales/decouverte-de-variantes-de-portrait-et-de-coins-des-15-sols-louis-xvi.
Unlike the 15 and 30 Sols, the die variants are a little more subtle. Indeed, there are only two types of legends, long and half-long. Only one die is special, the hair mixes with the date. This seems unique to the Paris mint. The type FRANÇAIS does not seem to vary. Here are the 3 dies for the FRANÇOIS type:
Half-long reverse legend and date mixed with hair: with the Ç of FRANÇOIS before the ribbon. (1)
.jpg?1587233431191)
Photo of a coin sold by cgb.fr, link to the sale and their website: https://www.cgb.fr/louis-xvi-monarque-constitutionnel-demi-ecu-dit-au-genie-type-francois-1792-paris-ttb-,v37_0779,a.html.
Half-long reverse legend: with the Ç of FRANÇOIS before the ribbon. (2)
.jpg?1587234593804)
Photo of a coin sold by cgb.fr, link to the sale and their website: https://www.cgb.fr/louis-xvi-monarque-constitutionnel-demi-ecu-dit-au-genie-type-francois-1792-paris-sup,bry_426701,a.html.
Long reverse legend: with the Ç of FRANÇOIS after the ribbon. (3)
.jpg?1587235741557)
Photo of a coin sold by cgb.fr, link to the sale and their website: https://www.cgb.fr/louis-xvi-monarque-constitutionnel-demi-ecu-dit-au-genie-type-francois-1792-paris-ttb,bry_288915,a.html.
Again, as for 15 and 30 Sols, legends between long and half-long exist. Large or less wide portraits too, but the variation is slight and there is no need to classify it.