France 1577-A douzain
This specimen was lot 42167 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Oklahoma City, OK, August 2025), where it sold for $1,020. The catalog description[1] noted, "FRANCE. Douzain Piefort, 1577-A. Paris Mint. Henry III. PCGS EF-40. A RARE early milled striking in double weight, using the relatively novel screw press technology as opposed to the crude hammered process typically seen on circulating issues. Evenly worn, with pleasing dark patina and no signs of tooling or other major surface issues. From the Richard August Collection." This type was struck 1575-96 at many mints with the Paris mint contributing 1575-77, 1586-88. There are 18 examples reported per Sombart, making this a common date. It had a face value of 12 deniers tournois. This example, a piedfort, may not have been included in Sombart's count.
Recorded mintage: 2,237,931.
Specification: 2.39 g, 0.240 fine silver.
Catalog reference: Sb 4400, Lafaurie-981b; Ciani-1451; Dupl-1141.
- Duplessy, Jean, Les Monnaies Françaises Royales de Hugues Capet à Louis XVI (987-1793), Tome II, 2e édition, Paris: Maison Platt, 1999.
- Roberts, James N., The Silver Coins of Medieval France (476-1610 AD), S. Salem, NY: Attic Books, 1996.
- Sombart, Stéphan, Franciae IV: Catalogue des Monnaies Royales Françaises de François Ier à Henri IV (1540-1610), Paris: Éditions les Chevau-légers, 1997.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, August 2025 Global Showcase Auction, World & Ancient Coins, featuring The Richard August Collection and the Richard Margolis Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2025.
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