Louis XVI, King of France
Born 1754 A.D., King 1774-1792 A.D.
Silver Ecu, 41 mm, 29.5 g.
O: Bust of Louis XVI.
R: Crowned Arms of France.
1777 A.D. Toulouse mint.
Copper Liard, 23 mm, 2.5 g.
O: Bust of Louis XVI.
R: Crowned Arms of France.
1784 A.D. Limoges mint.
Louis XVI, king of France, was neither interested in politics nor capable of dealing with the French Revolution, which engulfed his reign. Absorbed in family life, eating, hunting, and mechanical arts (he was a skilled locksmith), he allowed a mounting crisis to culminate in the destruction of the once powerful absolute monarchy and French aristocratic society. Both he and his wife, Marie Antoinette, lost their heads to the guillotine in 1793.