France (Colonies) 1 Sol or 12 Deniers 1767

France produced these 12 deniers copper coins for use in their western colonies (Haiti, Martinique, Guadaloupe today) with inscriptions COLONIES FRANCOISES (French colonies) and SIT NOMEN DOMINI BENEDICTUM (blessed be the name). The inscription L.XV is for King Louis XV of France.

Often times you see this coin with a large 'RF' counterstamp, punched into the SIT NOMEN side. The act of punching the coin usually obliterates the crossed scepters on the opposite side. The 'RF' punching happened in 1793, after the birth of the French Republic (RF or Republique Francaise).

These are valuable coins when in decent condition. Most of the coins surviving today are heavily worn and not worth very much. The values are roughly the same with and without the counterstamp, although coins without counterstamp are more difficult to find and therefore may be worth a somewhat more.

worn: $25 US dollars approximate catalog value
average circulated: $200
well preserved: $450

To give a sense of actual value, the coin in our main photograph (upper left) is a $40 retail coin. The one in our large picture below comes from Stack's where it sold for $160 US dollars during a 2008 auction. It would probably sell around $200 today.

CoinQuest thanks Stack's for use of their coin photo.
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