Monaco 1665 Louis I. Silver 5 Sols (1/12 Ecu) Coin. NGC AU

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1665, Monaco (Principality), Louis I. Silver 5 Sols (1/12 Ecu) Coin. NGC AU

Mint Year: 1665
Reference: KM-40.
Denomination: 5 Sols (1/12 Ecu)
Condition: Certified and graded by NGC as AU (Details: Obv. Spot Removed!)
Material: Silver
Diameter: 20mm
Weight: 2.2gm

Obverse: Draped bust of Louis I of Monaco to left.
Legend: • LVD • I • D • G • (pierced star) • PRIN • MONOECI • &

Reverse: Lys symbol above wreathed and crowned round coat-of.-arms of the House of Grimaldi within foliage.
Legend: • FLORENT CVM • LILIO • AN • DO •



The House of Grimaldi is the reigning house of the Principality of Monaco. The house was founded in 1160 by Grimaldo Canella in Genoa and became the ruling house of Monaco when Francesco Grimaldi captured Monaco in 1297.

Every Prince of Monaco has been a member of the House of Grimaldi. Since the 18th century, the princes have been agnatic descendants of other families that have inherited through the female line and adopted the Grimaldi name. In 1715, Jacques Goyon de Matignon married Louise Hippolyte, Princess of Monaco, the last Grimaldi agnatic heir. He and his male line descendants, adopting the Grimaldi name, ruled as princes of Monaco from 1731 to 1949. Since then, the princes have been male line descendants of the Polignac family. Rainier III, son of Pierre de Polignac, inherited the title through Princess Charlotte, Duchess of Valentinois in 1949 and adopted the Grimaldi name. During much of the Ancien Régime, the family resided in the French court, where from 1642 to 1715, they used the title of Duke of Valentinois.

The current head of the house is Albert II of Monaco, Sovereign Prince of Monaco, who is the son and successor of Prince Rainier III and the Princess consort Grace of Monaco, formerly known as Grace Kelly.

Louis I (25 July 1642 in Prince's Palace of Monaco – 3 January 1701 in Rome) was Prince of Monaco from 1662 until 1701.

Louis Grimaldi was the elder son of Prince Hercule of Monaco and Genoese noblewoman, Maria Aurelia Spinola. His younger siblings were Maria Ippolita Grimaldi (wife of Carlo Emanuele Filiberto de Simiane, Prince of Montafia), Giovanna Maria Grimaldi (wife of Andrea Imperiali, Prince of Francavilla), and Teresa Maria Grimaldi (wife of Sigismondo III d'Este, Marquis of San Martino).

In 1662, Louis succeeded his grandfather Honoré II as Prince of Monaco. In 1666 he distinguished himself at the Four Days' Battle between the English and Dutch fleets. On 5 July 1668 he took the oath to King Louis XIV of France in the Parlement on account of being Duke of Valentinois and a Peer of France. He was made a knight of the French royal orders on 31 December 1688.

In 1699, Louis XIV sent Louis to Rome as ambassador extraordinary. There on 19 December he presented the insignia of the Order of the Holy Spirit to James Louis and Alexander Benedict Sobieski, the two sons of King John III of Poland. Louis remained in Rome until his death there in 1701.

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