Chateau-Renaud (1605-14) florin d'or Fr-114
The first specimen was lot 20184 in Stack's Bowers 2018 NYINC sale (New York, January 2018), where it sold for $1,200. The catalog description[1] noted, "FRANCE. Chateau Renaud. Florin, ND. Francis (1605-14). NGC EF Details--Surface Hairlines. A 'florin d'or" issued in Lorraine (then part of the Empire) for François de Bourbon, Prince of Conti (1558-1614). A RARE type likely undervalued in Friedberg. Although some hairlines are present, we note most of the heavy lines as die scratches. Several edge flaws and weak spots. Nice portrait and a quite reasonable example of this difficult type." The second specimen was lot 99042 in Heritage sale 61253 (Dallas, January 2022), where it sold for $2,280. The catalog description[2] noted,
"France: An Extremely Rare Die Pairing Known from Only a Handful of Other Specimens. Château-Regnault (Renaud). François de Bourbon & Louise Marguerite gold Florin d'Or ND (1605-1614) MS61 NGC. Variety with reverse legend reading F BOVRBON LVD MARGAR LOT, rather than IN OMNEM TER SON EOR. An extraordinarily rare subvariant from this already short-lived gold coinage, recorded by De May as represented by a mere 2 examples--one in the Henri Meyer Collection (sold privately to Carlos de Beistegui by Rollin & Feuardent in 1902 [lot 2152], and subsequently donated to the Bibliothèque Nationale), and the other in the Garrett Collection (Bank Leu-Numismatic Fine Arts October 1984, Lot 1019, purchased from Henry Chapman in 1928); it was altogether missing from the Jean Rousseau and Jacques Reichel collections, and unrecorded by Poey d'Avant and Boudeau. What is more, the Garrett specimen appears to have been struck from a distinct obverse die with a rosette, rather than a pellet, as the initial mark. Despite the minorly worn nature of the dies seen here, the strike itself appears firmly defined and exacting, a heavy degree of die polish decorating the fields and producing a piece that can be firmly said to be entirely uncirculated. Ex. iNumis Auction 21 (March 2013, Lot 2439); CGB Auction 17 (December 2002, Lot 2286); Argenor Numismatique (April 2000, Lot 658)."
The SCWC divides this into KM 17 (with crosses of Lorraine on reverse), 18 (w/o crosses), 19 (legend begins at lower left), 20 (first specimen), all in Friedberg as Fr-114. A florin d'or was supposed to equal a ducat but this one is lighter and of lower purity. Chateau-Renaud was an estate of the house of Conde, one of the leaders of the Catholic League during the Wars of Religion, until the last heiress, Louise-Marguerite de Lorraine, ceded it to Louis XIII in 1629.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 3.25 g, 0.917 fine gold; the second specimen 3.18 g.
Catalog reference: Fr-114, the second specimen Boudeau-1825 var., De May-D21.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
- [1]Ponterio, Richard, Kyle Ponterio, John Kraljevich and Cris Chatigny, The January 2018 NYINC Sale: Ancient Coins, World Coins & Paper Money, featuring the Eldorado Collection of Colombian and Ecuadorian Coins, Santa Ana, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2017.
- [2]Cristiano Bierrenbach, Warren Tucker and Sam Spiegel, The Brittany Collection of French Coins Showcase Auction #61253, Dallas, TX: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2021.
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