Ecu

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Golden Ecu from 1498
Silver Écu from 1712 with the portrait of Louis XIV.

With Écu [ e.ky ] French gold and silver coins from the Middle Ages to the 18th century were referred to. The name is derived from the heraldic shield depicted on the coin (Latin scutum "shield"; French écu "shield", "heraldic shield"). Under King Henry III. In 1577 the golden écu (= 3 livres = 60 sous) was set for a short time as a bill of exchange with simultaneous physical coinage. However, the legal parity for silver was Livre (Münzgewicht) do not last long, so that very soon one Écu in gold were more than 70 livres (in Sou and denier) in a deteriorated Silbermünzfuß because the legal Coinage term at that time still was not common. The silver deniers and sous were now subject to a continuous devaluation from 1589, which dragged on until the introduction of the franc .

Gold coins - also called "Écu d'or" (showing the king 's bust: " Louis d'or "), in German alluding to the sun, which was depicted on the coins from 1703 as a symbol of the Sun King, the "sun pistol" - were subject to fluctuating exchange rates minted in the silver unit Livre - the fluctuations between the metal values ​​did not allow any static fixing of gold coins in the generally silver-fixed coin base.

The Écu blanc (also called "Écu d'argent" or "Louis blanc") was minted from 1641 to 1794 at a value of 60 sols or 3 livres. The value corresponded to the international unit of account Reichstaler like the Patagon , the somewhat lighter de facto Reichstaler coin of the Netherlands and Brabants .

The Portuguese escudo , which was in circulation in Portugal until the introduction of the euro in 2001 , also derives its name from the Latin scutum .

A reference to the Écu is ECU, the abbreviation for European Currency Unit , the accounting currency of the European Monetary System and the forerunner of the Euro .

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