France 1585-& 2 sols
This specimen was lot 71012 in Stack's Bowers Collector's Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, June 2021), where it sold for $288. The catalog description[1] noted, "FRANCE. 2 Sol Parisis, 1585-&. Aix Mint. Henry III. PCGS AU-55 Gold Shield. Very lightly handled, this hammered issue sports an alluring pastel tone and features a fairly solid strike for the type." The billon double sol parisis, struck at numerous mints 1578-89, had a face value of thirty deniers tournois. This specimen is from the Aix mint. The later double sol of Louis XV was 2.18 g, .208 fine silver and tariffed at 24 deniers tournois.
Recorded mintage: 110,136 + 57,044 (two mintmasters), a rare date.
Specification: 4.706 g, .319 fine silver.
Catalog reference: Sb-4472, Dupl-1136.
- 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, The June 2021 Collector's Choice sale: World and Ancient Coins, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2021.
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