[Fr.: originally ‘shield’:—L. scutum; according to Littré so called because it bore on one face 3 fleurs-de-lis, like a heraldic shield.]
A French silver coin; commonly regarded as equivalent to the English ‘crown.’ Now used in France as a name for the five-franc piece.
The relation of the écu to the livre, and its actual value, varied greatly at different periods. There was also a gold écu, similarly variable in nominal and actual value.
1704. Royal Proclam., 18 June, in Lond. Gaz., No. 4029/1. Ecu’s of France, or Silver Lewis … Four Shillings and Six Pence.
1875. Jevons, Money, xii. 145. The coinage of écus … had been left unrestricted.
