This 1/4 Ecu was one of many coins found at the mouth of the Bagaduce River in 1840, indicating the area's thriving trade in the 1600s. Present-day Castine was a contested area of overlapping Wabanaki, English and French claims for centuries.

In 1674, during a period of French control, Dutch privateers attacked the fort and took the Baron of Saint-Castin (Jean Vincent d’Abbadie) and others hostage for ransom. When Saint-Castin returned to Castine in 1677, he established a trading post among Wabanakis on the Bagaduce River, about six miles from the old fort.

In 1684 Chief Madockawando’s daughter, Pidianiske (baptized as Molly Mathilde), married Saint-Castin and solidified the alliance between the French and Penobscot. Family ties and reciprocal relations gave Saint-Castin a stronger footing among Wabanaki people than the English settlers and traders encroaching up the coast.

The coin depicts a crowned King Louis XIII on the obverse and the text "LVDOVICVS.XIII.D.G.FR.ET. NAV.REX." The reverse of the coin features a royal crest and the year of manufacture.