Lyard

Initially, it was a small coin of Dauphine (a historical area, annexed to France in 1342 ), equal to 3 Dofin denier . The coin was minted from base silver ( billon ). The obverse usually depicted a dolphin .
Under Louis XI (1461–83), the liard became a pan-French coin, equal to 3 denier of the tournoy ^[2] . The weight of the coin was 1.2 g; the silver sample was the 250th.

The liard was regularly minted until the end of the 18th century, but the quality and weight of the coin was constantly decreasing. In the middle of the XVI century, the liard weighed 1.06 g, and the silver sample decreased to the 188th, under Henry III (1574-89) the weight remained almost unchanged (about 1 g), but the sample decreased to the 125th.

In 1648, the first copper lard weighing 3.8-4 g was released. On some coins, the denomination was 3 denier (“ 3d ”), on the others - “ Liard de France ”.
Since the time of Louis XV (1715-74), the liard weighed 3 g already, and at the same time became the smallest bargaining chip of France.

The coin was minted until the introduction of the new monetary system franc = 100 centimes . The last liards were withdrawn from circulation in 1856 ^[3] ; by this time the liard was worth 1/4 sous .

The name liard was also worn by several more coins:

• A loose coin of the Netherlands , introduced by Emperor Charles V in the 16th century. Later, the so-called change coin of the Austrian Netherlands = 1/124 kronalentalera (before the occupation of revolutionary France in 1794 ).
• Change coin of Luxembourg, equal to ¹ ⁄ ₈₀ Luxembourg livres or ¹ ⁄ ₂₀ salt.
• Monaco billon coin (“ liardo ”); first minted in 1720 .

• Numismatic Dictionary / [Author: Zvarich V.V. ]. - 4th ed. / Publ. Dictionary of numismatists. Description of coins . - Lviv, 1980. - ISBN 5-256-00317-8 .