France 1791-A 15 sols

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Ponterio sale 168, lot 50413
photo courtesy Stack's-Bowers LLC
from the Mountain Groan Collection
France 1791A 15 sols rev DSLR.jpg
from the Stack's Bowers 2024 ANA sale, lot 43068
SB824-43068r.jpg

This specimen is a billon fifteen sols struck at the Paris mint in 1791. It is common. Its face value was one-eighth of an écu. The type was struck 1791-93 and is known from Limoges, Metz, Bordeaux, Bayonne, Marseilles, Nantes and other mints. The first specimen was lot 50413 in Ponterio sale 168 (Philadelphia, August 2012), where it sold for $220. The catalog description[1] noted, "FRANCE. 15 Sols, 1791-A. NGC AU-58." The third specimen was lot 43068 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Chicago, August 2024), where it sold for $10,200. The catalog description[2] noted,

"FRANCE. Constitution. Silver 15 Sols Essai (Pattern), Year 3/1791-A. Paris Mint. Louis XVI. PCGS SPECIMEN-63. Ornamented edge. By A. Dupré. Most attractively toned and very well struck, this glisteningly Choice specimen presents an incredible array of eye appeal. About its rather intense RARITY, Margolis wrote that '...Col. Maurin and C. Penchaud are the only collectors, other than Farouk and the present cataloguer, who I definitely know to have owned a silver example of this excessively rare essai. A careful reading of the Ferrari/Brand typescript does not reveal an example in that collection. This piece is carefully struck on a polished planchet.' From the Richard Margolis Collection (acquired from Bernard Poindessault/Josiane Védrines on 14 February 1991). Ex: Superior (12/1990) Lot # 1257. Ex: Palace Collections of Egypt [King Farouk] (Sotheby's - 3/1954) likely Lot # 2130 (part of)."

Recorded mintage: 493,653.

Specification: 5 g, 0.666 fine silver, 23 mm diameter. The third specimen is 5.00 g.

Catalog reference: KM 604.1, Gad-36. The third specimen is Maz-96 (R3); Ciani-2246.

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).
  • 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]Ponterio, Richard, Ponterio sale 168: The Official ANA Auction, Irvine, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2012.
  • [2]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.

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