15 Sols - Louis XIV

References: W#11610, Martin 1.2#B.1, Breen# 255, Breton# 501.

Only a few of the 15 Sols coins are still known in museum collections (eight coins) and in private hands (six to eight coins).

By an edict of February 19, 1670, three coins were authorized to be struck for the Compagnie des Indes Occidentales to circulate in New France: a double of copper and silver coins of five and fifteen Sols.

By decree of March 24, 1670, due in part to the difficulty of supplying silver and copper, the edict was modified to authorize the melting of Louis d'argent and Double tournois of copper in order to allow the manufacture of silver silver by the Monnaie de Paris while the copper coin would be manufactured by the Monnaie de Nantes.

Coinage began on July 7, 1670, at the Paris Mint and continued through September 9, by which time it is said a total of 41,569 and 202,453 pieces were struck for the 15 Sols and 5 Sols, respectively. 200,000 of the 5 Sols coins and 40,000 of the 15 Sols coins are said to have been delivered to the Compagnie des Indes Occidentales on September 13, 1670, after which the dies were destroyed.

These coins of 5 Sols and 15 Sols have long been attributed to New France (Canada), based on the initial attribution by Le Blanc (Traité historique des monnoyes de France, 1690) and the base reading of the edict and the decree of 1670. Although some of these coins had effectively circulated in this area, it is now believed that they were created specifically for the French West Indies thanks to unpublished documents discovered by Jambu.

The double of copper has never been struck by the Monnaie de Nantes and only one example of a pattern minted by the Monnaie de Paris is known to exist: the Ferrari specimen. In 1894, Breton noted two examples: the Count of Ferrari specimen and another he said was in M. Ulex's collection in Hamburg. However, this second specimen has never been traced back and its provenance was never confirmed elsewhere until now. Currently only the Ferrari specimen is known to exist.

Sources: Edict of February 19, 1670, modifying decree of March 24, 1670 and French Coins in America or French American Coins? (and which America?) by Jérôme Jambu (2021).