1651 H, Royal France, Louis XIV. Silver 1/2 Ecu Coin. La Rochelle!
Mint year: 1651 Mintage: 13,160 pcs. Denomination: 1/2 Ecu Mint Place: La Rochelle (H) References: Duplessy 1470, KM-164.9 ($550 in XF!). Condition: Certified and graded by NGC as UNC (Details: Cleaned!) Material: Silver (.917) Weight: ca. 13.5gm Diameter: 32mm
Obverse: Laureated and draped young bust of of the Sun King ("le Roi Soleil") - Louis XIV right. Legend: LVD . XIIII . D . G . - . FR . ET . NAV . REX .
Reverse: Crowned royal shield with French arms (three lis symbols). Mint initial (H) below. Legend: SIT . NOMEN . DOMINI (privy mark: heart) H . BENEDICTVM . I650 .
Because of its western location, which saved days of sailing time, La Rochelle enjoyed successful fishing in the western Atlantic and trading with the New World.
Louis XIV (5 September 1638 – 1 September 1715) ruled as King of France and of Navarre. He ascended the throne a few months before his fifth birthday, but did not assume actual personal control of the government until the death of his prime minister (Premier ministre), the Italian Jules Cardinal Mazarin, in 1661. Louis remained on the throne until his death in September 1715, four days before his seventy-seventh birthday. His reign lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days, the longest documented for any European monarch to date.
Louis XIV is popularly known as the Sun King (French: le Roi Soleil). Louis believed in the Divine Right of Kings, a theory which received one of its most classic expressions in "On the Duties of Kings", a sermon preached by Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet in Louis' presence in 1662. (Louis was so impressed with Bossuet that in 1670, he appointed Bossuet as tutor to Louis' son and heir.)