France 1981 20 centimes
This specimen was lot 73151 in Stack's Bowers Collector's Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, February 2023), where it sold for $100. The catalog description[1] noted, "FRANCE. Silver 20 Centimes Piefort, 1981. Paris Mint. PCGS SPECIMEN-68. A tremendous example, yielding a rich cameo appeal and nearly flawless appearance, we expect much competition for this stunning double thick piece." This type was accompanied by a similar five, ten and fifty centimes. The price realized seems ridiculously low for a coin of a paltry mintage of 359 pieces until one looks at the piedfort section of the SCWC, where over a thousand different issues are listed, not counting patterns and essais. No one can collect them all, so few try.
Recorded mintage: 125,000,011 for circulation plus 359 silver piedforts plus 30 gold pieforts.
Specification: 4 g, aluminum bronze, 23.5 mm diameter, plain edge (regular issue).
Catalog reference: F.156/21, KM 930 (aluminum bronze), KM-P693 (silver piefort, shown here).
- Gadoury, Victor, Monnaies Françaises, 1789-2019, 24me éd., Monaco: Éditions Victor Gadoury, 2019.
- Prieur, Michel, and Laurent Schmitt, Le Franc 10: Les Monnaies, Paris: Éditions les Chevau-légers, 2014.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, February 2023 World Collectors Choice Online Auction, featuring the David Sterling Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2023.
Link to: