France 1793-Pau 15 sols

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Stack's Bowers September 2025 Collectors Choice sale, lot 71104
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This specimen was lot 71104 in Stack's Bowers Collectors Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, September 2025), where it sold for $3,360. The catalog description[1] noted, "FRANCE. Constitution. 15 Sols, 1793/Year 5. Pau Mint; mm: Cow. Louis XVI. PCGS AU-55. Standing as the only such example of the type in the PCGS census, this near-Mint minor from a branch mint popular for its bovine mintmark presents a good deal of remaining brilliance paired with some alluring toning. From the Richard Margolis Collection (acquired from Dorotheum in 1959). Ex: Hollschek Collection, part IX (Dorotheum - 4/1959) Lot # 1083 (part of)." This type was struck 1791-93 at numerous mints but only Paris ("A") and Limoges ("I") are common.

Altho the French Revolution famously began with the fall of the Bastille in June 1789, the upheaval was not immediately reflected in the coinage, which continued to be issued using the designs of the ancien régime. In 1791, the first "constitutional" coins appeared, including 3 deniers (= 1 liard), 6 deniers (= 2 liards), 12 deniers (= 1 sol), 2 sols, 15 sols (= 1/8 écu) and 30 sols. "Constitutional" demi-écus and écus appeared in 1792. Only then were the old royal designs discontinued. In 1793, the king was guillotined and a republic instituted. The republicans issued some brass sols and 2 sols and a silver écu de 6 livres before abandoning the system altogether in favor of the franc in 1795.

Recorded mintage: 31,139, a rare date.

Specification: 5 g, 0.666 fine silver, 23.5 mm diameter.

Catalog reference: KM-604.15; Gad-36.

Sources:

  • 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 Françaises, 1789-2019, 24me éd., Monaco: Éditions Victor Gadoury, 2019.
  • Guilloteau, Victor, Monnaies Françaises, Colonies 1670-1942 et Metropole 1774-1942, Versailles, 1942.
  • Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
  • [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, September 2025 World Collectors Choice Online Auction, including Selections from the Richard Margolis Collection and Selections from the L.E. Bruun Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2025.

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