W. C a r e w H a z l i t t Coinage of the European Continent

474 The Coins of Europe
Navarre and other constituent portions of the realm were
still deemed necessary, and the former denominations remained
in some instances current down to the reign of Louis
XIV., who struck the &u au soleil in gold, and of whom
there is before us a demi-franc of the ancient type with
a numeral stamped in to convert XIII. into XIIII.
The utilisation of residual currency for a new reign or
a different issue was carried out to a large and systematic
extent. Coins frequently occur struck over others, so that
the obverse and reverse are transposed, and this practice
seems to have been habitual under Louis XIV. and his
successor when the number struck proved to be in excess
of the demand and the
; surplus metal was thus turned to
useful account by creating a numismatic palimpsest.
The coinages of Louis XIV. and XV. are alike remarkable
on account of the duration of the reigns and the
youth of these monarchs when they were called to the
throne. Even where a collection is on representative lines,
it can scarcely dispense with specimens of the earliest,
middle, and later issues. The pieces with the young heads
from 1643 to 1651, and from 1716 to 1720 respectively,
are apt to prove more attractive ;
and the minor divisions of
the ecus of Louis XIV., 1643-44, the louis and half louis of
1
645, and the Hard de France with crowned bust and French
legends; and the ecus of his successor, 1716, 1718, 1723,
the louis and half louis of 1717, and the copper money of
1719-21, as well as the undated Beam sol reading on rev.
Prodvit des mines de France, and the various pieces struck
for the colonies, 1717-52, maybe particularly mentioned.
The colonial sols or double liards between 1717 and
1722 are usually
ill struck. Those of 1717 read: xii.
Deniers Colonies ; others have Colonies Francoises. For the
Windward Islands (Isles du Vent] there are silver coins of
12 and 6 sols, 1731, and one of 20 sols for the Indies, as
well as a currency in all metals for Pondichery the pagode,
the royalin and its multiples, and the Janam in more than
one variety. Of the older currency of Louis XV. the cu
and half ecu of i
740-41 are deserving of attention by reason