The authors report the first observation of nuclear quadrupole resonances in Sm2+, detected optically for both naturally occurring isotopes with nuclear spin (Sm147 and Sm149) in SrFCl and BaFCl crystals. Quadrupole coupling constants P are determined in the 7F0 electronic ground state and estimates are given for the ratios of shielding parameters (1- gamma infinity )/(1- sigma 2). Comparison of the two crystals demonstrates the sensitivity of quadrupolar coupling to Sm2+-ligand interactions. Anomalously small splittings in BaFCl ( mod P mod <0.05 MHz) are ascribed to the mutual cancelling of two electric field gradient components (4f shell and direct crystal field terms).