Owner Comments:
France's presence in the New World was expansive, extending from present day Canada all the way to the Gulf of Mexico, and between the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains, (together with land located in the French West Indies). There was a great need for small change throughout. To that end, in June 1721, the Duke of Orleans, on behalf of the then 11 year old King Louis XV, signed an edict providing for the production of 9 denier coins, at four mint facilities, officially made only for the colonies. Ultimately, only two French mints fashioned these coins: the Rouen mint, only in 1721, in very limited numbers, using a "B" mintmark; and at the La Rochelle Mint, in 1721 and 1722, using an "H" mintmark, and accounting for almost all of the total output. Joseph-Charles Roettiers, a talented engraver, was responsible for creating the punches and matrices for the 9 denier dies. The planchets were fashioned from Swedish copper, which proved of higher quality than that previously used.
Unfortunately, the 9 denier pieces were substantially underweight, containing no more than 6 deniers worth of copper. This displeased the colonists, who were already disillusioned with their inability to use the coins in other venues, and to use them to purchase foreign merchandise.
Ultimately, the colonists who took exception to the law forcing them to use these coins, and their subsequent governmentally imposed devaluation, returned over one half million of the pieces back to the home country in 1726. Most had been collecting dust in casks for about four years. The colonists had a preference for billon coins, which at least contained low amounts of silver, and mixed with copper, were more pleasing to the eye. The 9 denier coins were eventually redistributed by the West India Company to Louisianne (another administrative district of New France), where they successfully circulated under less restrictive conditions.
The coin pictured above is a 1721 9 denier piece, graded XF 40 by PCGS. Minted at the La Rochelle Mint, it has alternatively been referred to as a Crossed L Copper; a Copper Sol; and later as a Louisiana Copper. Although there has been a lingering debate over which side is the obverse, most view the side with the crowned crossed Ls as the obverse. Its peripheral Latin legend: "Sit Nomen Domini Benedictum" translates into "Blessed Be The Name Of The Lord". These coins display privy marks (a/k/a differents) sometimes at 12 o'clock on the obverse, or around the date on the reverse, to identify the engraver/mint master, as then required by law.
The reverse contains the words "Colonies Francoises", the date, and the mint mark. Between 1,000 to 2,000 specimens survive today, some exhibiting a 1722/1 overdate, as made in La Rochelle.