Obverse. Photo © NumisCorner.com
  • 1/2 Franc 1816-1824, KM# 708, France, Louis XVIII
  • 1/2 Franc 1816-1824, KM# 708, France, Louis XVIII
Description

Louis XVIII (1755–1824), known as "The Desired", was a monarch of the House of Bourbon who ruled as King of France from 1814 to 1824 except for a period in 1815 known as the Hundred Days. Louis XVIII spent twenty-three years in exile in Prussia, the United Kingdom and Russia, from 1791 to 1814, during the French Revolution and the First French Empire, and again in 1815, during the period of the Hundred Days, upon the return of Napoleon I from Elba.

Louis XVIII ruled as king for slightly less than a decade. The Bourbon Restoration regime was a constitutional monarchy (unlike the ancien régime, which was absolutist). As a constitutional monarch, Louis XVIII's royal prerogative was reduced substantially by the Charter of 1814, France's new constitution. Louis had no children; therefore, upon his death, the crown passed to his brother, Charles, Count of Artois.

Engraver: Auguste-François Michaut

Obverse

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.

LOUIS XVIII ROI DE FRANCE.
MICHAUT F.

Reverse

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.

1/2 F
1823 W

Edge

1/2 Franc

2nd Kingdom
KM# 708 Gadoury# 401
Characteristics
Material Silver
Fineness 0.900
Weight 2.5 g
Diameter 18 mm
Thickness -
Shape round
Alignment Coin
Alt # KM# 708.1, KM# 708.2, KM# 708.3, KM# 708.4, KM# 708.5, KM# 708.6, KM# 708.7, KM# 708.8, KM# 708.9, KM# 708.10, KM# 708.11
Mints
Bayonne Mint (L)
Bordeaux Mint (K)
La Rochelle Mint (H)
Lille Mint (W)
Limoges Mint (I)
Lyon Mint (D)
Nantes Mint (T)
Paris Mint (A)
Perpignan Mint (Q)
Rouen Mint (B)
Toulouse Mint (M)

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