Editing Louis d'or (section)

==Louis XIII==
[[Image:France 1643-A Half Louis d'Or.jpg|right|300 px|thumb|Half Louis d’or of Louis XIII (1643){{#tag:ref |The Half-Louis d’or, contains (on average) 3.34g of 0.9170 fine gold, and weighs 0.0985 ounces.{{sfn|Cuhaj|2009|p=375}}| group="nb"}}]]
The Louis d'or (a gold coin) replaced the [[French franc|franc]] which had been in circulation (in theory) since [[John II of France|John II]]. In actual practice the principal gold coin circulating in France in the earlier 17th century had been Spanish: the 6.7-gram double ''escudo'' or "[[doubloon]]", of which the ''Louis d'or'' was an explicit copy. There also existed a half-Louis coin (the ''demi-louis d'or'') and a two-Louis coin (the ''double louis d'or'').

The Louis d'or fixed several problems with previous French gold coinage. [[Louis XIII]] previously struck coins from 23 carat gold even though [[Charles V of France|Charles V]] had made 22 carats the de facto international standard for gold coinage a century earlier.<ref name=Porteous>Coins in History, John Porteous , p 210.</ref> Royal edicts had set the official values of his gold coins so low that it was profitable to export them.<ref name=Porteous /> Since they were still made by hand, cheaters could shave bits of gold from the edges of the coins before passing them on, an illegal process called clipping.  To fix this, [[Jean Varin]], a medalist from Liège, installed machinery in the Paris mint which made perfectly round coins so that clipping could not go undetected.<ref name=Porteous /> The new demi Louis d'or maintained the weight of the old écu d’or, but decreasing its fineness to 22 carats, allowing it to circulate at a value of five [[French livre|livres]].  Its double, the Louis d'or, had the weight and fineness of the Spanish [[pistole]],<ref>Historic Gold Coins of the World, Burton Hobson, p. 61.</ref> or two escudo coins, which was an international trade currency.

Smaller values were available through a number of silver coins – the [[écu (coin)|écu]] (sometimes called the ''louis d'argent''), also available in  {{frac|1|2}}, {{frac|1|4}} and {{frac|1|8}} écu denominations (60, 30 and 15 ''sous'') – and copper coins: [[Sou (French coin)|sous]] (''s''.) and [[denier (coin)|deniers]] (''d''.).

The Louis d'or under Louis XIII had a dimension of about 25&nbsp;mm, and a weight of 6.75 g.
* Recto: the king's head turned to the right with the [[motto]] "LVD XIII DG – FR ET NAV REX" (<small>LVDOVICVS XIII DEI GRATIA FRANCIAE ET NAVARRAE REX</small> "Louis XIII, by the grace of God king of France and of Navarre").
* Verso: the royal [[monogram]] (4 double "L"s surmounted by a crown with [[fleur de lis]]) and the motto "CHRS REGN VINC IMP" (<small>CHRISTVS REGNAT VINCIT IMPERAT</small> "Christ reigns, conquers and commands").
* Engraver: [[Jean Varin]] (1604–1672)

The double louis has a size of 28.5&nbsp;mm and a weight of 13.47 g.<ref>[http://www.cgb.fr/louis-xiii-le-juste-double-louis-dor-a-la-meche-longue-a-deux-rubans-1640-paris-monnaie-du-louvre,v37_0459,a.html LOUIS XIII LE JUSTE DOUBLE LOUIS d'or à la mèche longue, à deux rubans]</ref> The quatruple louis has a size of 35&nbsp;mm and a weight of 26.88 g. The 10 louis has a size of 44&nbsp;mm and a weight of 66.87 g. One of these was sold in 2012 for 210,000 euros, which makes it the most expensive French coin of any time.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.sacra-moneta.com/or/La-plus-grosse-piece-d-or-francaise.html |title=LA PLUS GROSSE PIÈCE D'OR FRANÇAISE |access-date=3 September 2017 |archive-date=4 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170904012738/http://www.sacra-moneta.com/or/La-plus-grosse-piece-d-or-francaise.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> The half louis has a size of 20&nbsp;mm and a weight of 3.34 g.<ref>[http://www.cgb.fr/louis-xiii-le-juste-demi-louis-dor-a-la-meche-mi-longue-1640-paris-monnaie-du-louvre,v24_1315,a.html LOUIS XIII LE JUSTE Demi-LOUIS d'or à la mèche mi-longue 1640]</ref>