France 1721 Louis XV 1 Liard VG-F (VG10)

France 1721 Louis XV 1 Liard VG-F (VG10)

Louis XV followed his long-reigning great-grandfather onto the throne of France in 1715. He is generally remembered as passive, corrupt, and ineffectual, eroding the stability and authority of the French monarchy over his fifty-nine-year reign. The resentment that Louis inspired in his people is often regarded as the spark that would ignite the wildfire of the French Revolution.

This coin, struck in 1721, marks six years into Louis' reign -- but he was just eleven years old. Louis' great-grandfather, Louis XIV, had outlived all of his heirs, placing little Louis on the throne at the age of just five.