1498 - 1515 GOLD FRANCE ECU D'OR KING LOUIS XII NGC AU55

KINGDOM OF FRANCE

REIGN OF LOUIS XII ("THE FATHER OF THE PEOPLE") (1498-1515)

HOUSE OF ORLEANS & ANGOULEME (HOUSE OF VALOIS)

CERTIFIED BY NGC AU 55

OBV: CROWNED ARMS FLANKED BY 2 PORCUPINES

REV: FLORIATED CROSS, 2 "L"'s. & 2 PORCUPINES

LOUIS XII ASCENDED THE THRONE UNEXPECTEDLY, BEING SENIOR HEIR MALE FROM A CADET BRANCH OF THE ROYAL FAMILY

ONCE KING, HE REFORMED THE LEGAL SYSTEM, MANAGED HIS NOBLES, LOWERED TAXATION AND IMPROVED THE STABILITY OF FRENCH GOVERNMENT

AT FIRST SUCCESSFUL IN WAR, HIS AMBITIONS IN ITALY WERE CURTAILED BY POPE JULIUS II AND THE HOLY LEAGUE

LOUIS WAS ALSO UNLUCKY AT PRODUCING AN HEIR, AND AFTER THREE MARRIAGES (INCLUDING HIS LAST, TO MARY TUDOR, THE SISTER OF HENRY VIII OF ENGLAND) HE HAD NO SURVIVING SONS TO INHERIT

HIS THRONE WENT TO THE SON OF HIS COUSIN, FRANCOIS I

4.1 GRAMS OF GOLD

27 MM IN DIAMETER