France 1793-MA 30 sols

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Stack's Bowers October 2025 Collectors Choice sale, lot 71074
SB925-71074r.jpg

This specimen was lot 71074 in Stack's Bowers Collectors Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, September 2025), where it sold for $105. The catalog description[1] noted, "FRANCE. Constitution. 30 Sols, 1793-MA/Year 5. Marseille Mint. Louis XVI. PCGS GOOD-6. A VERY RARE type, this example offers fairly heavily circulated surfaces, yet remains original and without issue. From the Richard Margolis Collection (acquired from Patrick Guillard at the ANA in New York on 31 July 1997 for $72)." The specimen shown is a 30 sols (equals 1/4 écu) of the Constitutional period (1791-93) during the French Revolution. It was struck at the Marseille mint (mintmark "MA") and is a scarce date of its type.

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: unknown, a scarce date.

Specification: 10 g, 0.666 fine silver, .214 troy oz ASW, 28 mm diameter.

Catalog reference: KM-606.11; Gad-39.

Sources:

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • George Sobin, Jr., The Silver Crowns of France, 1640-1973. Teaneck, NJ: Richard Margolis, 1974.
  • [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, August 2025 Global Showcase Auction, World & Ancient Coins, featuring The Richard August Collection and the Richard Margolis Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2025.

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