Head left surrounded with the inscription 'Louis XVIII King of the France'.

Engraver's name and Chief engravers privy mark (horsehead, Nicolas-Pierre Tiolier, 1816-1843) below the portrait.

Crowned Royal arms divide denomination within wreath. Date below surrounded by the mint master privy mark (on the left) and mint mark (on the right).

The arms of France, since the late 12th century, have been three fleurs-de-lis. The English translation of "fleur-de-lis" (sometimes spelled "fleur-de-lys") is "flower of the lily." This symbol has been described by some as depicting a stylized lily or lotus flower, but other historians attribute its origin to a species of wild iris, the Iris pseudacorus.

Traditionally, it has been used to represent French royalty. Legend has it that an angel presented Clovis, the Merovingian king of the Franks, with a golden lily (or iris) as a symbol of his purification upon his conversion to Christianity. Others claim that Clovis adopted the symbol when waterlilies showed him how to safely cross a river and thus succeed in battle. In the twelfth century, either King Louis VI or King Louis VII (sources disagree) became the first French monarch to use the fleur-de-lis on his shield.