France 1720-BB louis d'argent

Heritage sale 61259, lot 99085

This specimen was lot 99085 in Heritage sale 61259 (Dallas, TX, February 2022), where it sold for $528. The catalog description^[1] noted, "France: Louis XV 1/3 Ecu 1720-BB VF35 NGC, Strasbourg mint. Petit Louis d'argent. By all indications a rather scarce Petit louis d'argent, entirely absent from the Ford Collection, with only a very small handful having appeared at auction in recent years." This type was introduced by John Law in 1720 as one-third of an écu along with a livre d'argent.. It was supplanted later in the year by the tiers d'écu, and most were melted to produce the latter coin. The petit louis is now quite scarce despite the substantial mintage.

This type was struck 1720-23 in large numbers while the adventurer John Law dominated the French government. Many were struck over petit Louis d'argent struck in 1720. Worth 3 livres on its introduction, it was reduced in steps to 1 livre 6 sols 8 deniers in September 1724.

Recorded mintage: 29,537 fn^[2].

Specification: 8.15 g, 0.917 fine silver, 26-28 mm diameter, reeded edge, designed by Norbert Roëttiers.

Catalog reference: Dr/2 № 560, Dr/4 № 831, KM 455.4, Gad-305 (R), L4L-447 (R3).

Source:

^[2]Droulers, Frédéric, Répertoire General des Monnaies de Louis XIII à Louis XVI (1610-1792), 4e édition. Paris: AFPN, 2009.
Duplessy, Jean, Les Monnaies Françaises Royales de Hugues Capet à Louis XVI (987-1793), Tome II, 2e édition, Paris: Maison Platt, 1999.
Gadoury, Victor, Monnaies Royales Françaises, 1610-1792, 5me éd., Monaco: Éditions Victor Gadoury, 2018.
Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
^[1]Cristiano Bierrenbach, Warren Tucker and Sam Spiegel, The Long Island Collection of French Coins Showcase Auction #61259, Dallas, TX: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2022.

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France 1720-BB louis d'argent

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