Token France 1/2 and 1 Pistol Coin Weight 1610 to 1715

The 'pistol' or 'pistole' was a name given to the Louis d'Or, a large gold coins of Kings Louis XIII and XIV of France. Other European gold coins of equal value were also sometimes referred to as pistoles in the late 16th to early 18th centuries.

Sofie, however does not have a gold Louis d'Or. She has a weight used to measure the gold content of Louis d'Or coins. Note that XIIII appears on the coin weight, while XIII or XIV appear on the actual coins.

The gold coins look much differently from the coin weights, which were used by merchants and bankers on a scale to check if a Louis d'Or in question was genuine or had the correct weight. Many people could not afford to keep around a real coin to use on the scale, and thus these brass coin weights were quite important. Putting a coin on a scale against a coin weight in the old days can be likened to holding up a paper note to check the watermark in our modern time.

These coin weights do not have too large of a collector following. The demand isn't too high, but the supply isn't either. Some approximate catalog values are provided below:

worn: $8 US dollars approximate catalog value
average circulated: $20
well preserved: $45

Sofie has described her coin as average circulated with a likable eye appeal. As such, it falls square into the $20 catalog value category. A collector might pay her around $10 for her coin.

These are inflated catalog values - refer to our 'Important Terminology' page on the top left in order to properly interpret these values.

Damaged coins, such as coins that have been cleaned, holed, or heavily scratched, will be worth considerably less than the values above.
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