France 1774-A ecu Dav-1333

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from the Stack's Bowers 2024 ANA sale, lot 43003
SB824-43003r.jpg
Stack's Bowers 2025 NYINC sale, lot 31334
SB125-31334r.jpg

The first specimen was lot 43003 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Chicago, August 2024), where it sold for $38,400. The catalog description[1] noted,

"Stunning Proof Écu with Alluring Cabinet Toning, FRANCE. Kingdom. Écu aux branches d'olivier, 1774-A. Paris Mint. Louis XVI. PCGS PROOF-63. No doubt an INCREDIBLE RARITY as a proof striking, this supremely enticing and attractive crown stands as the only such example seen in proof across both major grading services, with just one other observed in a scan of auction records over the past near quarter century--an example that realized a hammer of ChF 6,800 in October 2002. An immensely important opportunity for the advanced collector of Choice and finely produced world crowns, or the series of Louis XVI more narrowly. From the Richard Margolis Collection (acquired from Wade Hinderling at CICF on 13 March 1998)."

The second specimen was lot 31334 in Stack's Bowers NYINC sale (New York, January 2025), where it did not sell. The catalog description[2] noted, "FRANCE. Ecu, 1774-A. Paris Mint. Louis XVI. PCGS AU-50. A RARE pre-series Proof-only issue, this lightly circulated example displays attractive green and gold tone, evident reflectivity around the protected areas, and a more refined strike than one would expect from a normal striking. The Richard Margolis example of this issue -- graded PR-63 by PCGS -- realized $38,400 when it was offered in August 2024." This specimen is an écu au buste habillé struck at the Paris mint, one of a type struck there 1774-92. Its divisions were the ½, 1/5, 1/10 and 1/20 écu, struck in modest quantities. The écu was worth $1.10 in the USA before the Civil War. The écu au buste habillé is the most popular coin of Louis XVI among collectors. The 1774-A is a rare date as most of the year's production was of the écu à la vieille tête. In addition, the mint struck proofs only rarely in the eighteenth century.

Recorded mintage: 1,949,767 of KM 551.1 (old head of Louis XV) plus 90,037 of KM 564.1.

Specification: silver, 11 deniers (.917 fine), 8.3 pieces to the mark (29.488 g), face value 6 livres, 39 mm diameter. Engraved by Benjamin Duvivier, this specimen 29.47 g.

Catalog reference: Dav-1333, Dr/4 № 883, Dr/2 № 616, KM-564.1; Gad-356 (R5); Ciani-2188.

Source:

  • Ciani, Louis, Les Monnaies Royales Françaises de Hugues Capet à Louis XVI, avec indication de leur valuer actuelle, Paris, 1926 (reprinted in Barcelona, 1965).
  • Davenport, John S., European Crowns, 1700-1800, 2nd Ed., London: Spink & Son, 1964.
  • Duplessy, Jean, Les Monnaies Françaises Royales de Hugues Capet à Louis XVI (987-1793), Tome II, 2e édition, Paris: Maison Platt, 1999.
  • Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
  • [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, August 2024 Global Showcase Auction, World & Ancient Coins, featuring The Emilio M. Ortiz Collection, The Richard Margolis Collection and The Rutherford Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2024.
  • Gadoury, Victor, Monnaies Royales Françaises, 1610-1792, 5me éd., Monaco: Éditions Victor Gadoury, 2018.
  • George Sobin, Jr., The Silver Crowns of France, 1640-1973. Teaneck, NJ: Richard Margolis, 1974.
  • [2]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, January 2025 NYINC Showcase Auction, featuring the Richard Margolis Collection, Part III, and the Richard August Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2024.

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