French Coinage
A note on French coin denominations: 3 deniers = 1 liard 4 liards = 1 sol 20 sols = 1 livre 6 livres = 1 écu 4 écus = 1 Louis d'orA sol (later the sou) was also called a douzain because it was equal to twelve deniers. Lower denomination coins were the liard, the 1/2 sol, the 12 deniers (the sol) and the 2 sols. The écu was the highest unit silver coin equal to six livres Tournois (Tournois pounds) or 120 sols. Several fractional écu denominations were issued including the: 1/16th (7.5 sols), 1/12th (10 sols), 1/10th (12 sols), 1/8th (15 sols), 1/5th (24 sols), 1/3rd (40 sols) and 1/2 (60 sols) écus. Two gold coins were minted denominated as the 1 and 2 Louis d'or. A livre or pound, was not a coin but rather a money of account. This term usually refers to the livre Tournois (Tournois pound) which equaled 20 sols, there was also a livre Parisis (Parisian pound) valued at 25 sols.
References:"North American Colonial Coinages under the French Regime (1640-1763)," in Studies on Money in Early America, ed. by Eric Newman and Richard Doty, New York: American Numismatic Society, 1976, pp. 143-74