1781 ECU France Toulouse Mint Great Detail, Only 264,000 Made - Louis XVI - French Silver ECU 1781 M - 1700s Silver Coin

Issuer: France

Composition: Silver (91.7% Fineness)

Écu (from the Latin 'scutum') means shield, and the coin was so called because the design included the coat of arms of France. The word is related to the Catalan escut, Italian scudo, or Portuguese and Castilian escudo. In English, the écu was often referred to as the French crown in the eras of the English crown, British crown, and other crowns.

The silver écu disappeared during the French Revolution and was replaced by the franc at the rate of 6₶. = 6/1.0125 or 5.93 francs. At 4.5 g fine silver per franc this implied each écu contained only 26.66 g fine silver.

The 5-franc silver coins minted throughout the 19th century were just a continuation of the old écus, and were often still called écu by French people.