France 1693 Louis XIV Quinzain with Fleur-de-Lis Countermark, About VF

France 1693 Louis XIV Quinzain with Fleur-de-Lis Countermark, About VF

King of France during Le Grand Siècle (The Great Century), Louis XIV (1638-1715) has come to be known as both Louis the Great and the Sun King. This thrilling period of French history gave rise to brilliant innovations in art, architecture, science, literature, theatre, and music. It was also a time of violence, defined by despotism, colonial brutality, and constant war. Perhaps nothing symbolizes Louis' reign like the Palace of Versailles, a spectacular feat of creativity and engineering that embodies French elegance and grandeur -- as well as extravagance, absolutism, and outrageous excess. When he died in 1715, aged 76, Louis had positioned France as Europe's strongest military power, established it as the brightest star of the Enlightenment, and propelled French culture to the height of sophistication. This had a downside, however: an absolutely staggering amount of debt, which Louis would leave to his five-year-old great-grandson and heir, Louis XV. In just two generations, the decadence, the splendour, and the absurd extravagance of the ancien régime would come crashing down in the French Revolution.

The fleur-de-lis countermark was applied to revalue currency, especially in the colonies.