Lauder mentions a great variety of coins both in his Journal in France and
in his Accounts after his return home. Some explanation of the principal
coins may be useful. It is necessary to keep in mind that the value of
coins was in a perpetual flux. There were during the century frequent
changes in the value of coins relatively even to those of the same country.

1. _In France._

(1) _Livre_. The livre used by Lauder, and called by him indifferently
'frank,' was the livre tournois,[28] of 20 sous. It was, subject to
exchange, of the same value as the pound Scots,[29] 1s. 8d. sterling, which
greatly simplifies calculations. The £ s. d. French was equal to the
£ s. d. Scots, and one twelfth of the value of the £ s. d. English or
sterling.

[28] The livre parisis contained 25 sous.--Major's _Greater
Britain_ (S.H.S.), p. 32, note.

[29] See pp. 3 and 4 and _passim_.

(2) _Ecu, écu blanc_, or _d'argent_, a silver coin worth 3 livres,[30] or
5s. sterling, thus of the same value as the English crown, and sometimes
called crown by Lauder.

[30] The value varied a little, but it was three livres in 1653.--
_Mémoires de l'Académie des Inscriptions et de Belles Lettres_
(1857), Tome 21, 2'me partie, p. 350.

(3) _Ecu d'or_, or _couronne_, golden crown. It was worth about 5 livres 12