1712-N 6 Den Refrappe MS(PCGS#650082)

Winter 2022 U.S. Coins Auction

拍卖行

Stack's Bowers

批号

1047

等级

MS63

价格

22,034

详细说明

1712-N French Colonies 6 Deniers, or “Sols de Dardennes.” Montpelier Mint. Gadoury-85. Refrappe. MS-63 (PCGS). Bright golden bronze surfaces are rich with original mint luster. An official restrike from original dies (rarer as such than an original piece), none of which survive in a condition close to this one. While other "refrappes" of this type seem to be struck on 12 deniers (which suggests they were accomplished in the late 18th century), this example is struck on a virgin brassy flan that closely resembles the original planchets for this type. Fully struck and choice, a few small obverse spots. Syd described this piece as "possibly finest known of type," which may be accurate. PCGS has certified four of the "refrappe" type, none finer than this one. Among non-restrike sols de Dardennes, the finest graded by PCGS is VF-25. Additional information pertaining to this lot: The Underappreciated 1710-1712 Sols de Dardennes Unlisted by Breen or any other cataloger writing on the subject of the coins of Nouvelle France, the "Dardennes" have struggled to gain the respect they deserve among collectors. This type, struck in a brassy composition and valued at six deniers, have long been known to archaeologists working sites associated with Nouvelle France. In his 1992 Coinage of the Americas Conference paper "An American Collector's Guide to the Coins of Nouvelle France," Michael Hodder acknowledged Peter Moogk's article "When Money Talks: Coinage in New France" as "the best single study of the coins found in controlled archaeological excavations in French Canada and French sites below the border." Hodder noted "Moogk found one type, the bronze 6 deniers of 1710-12 called the 'Dardennes,' as plentiful as the billon double sols of the 1738 series." Later in his article, Hodder noted "the Dardennes of 1710-12 should be better recognized than they are today as coppers that actively circulated in French speaking Canada. Indeed, based upon quantities found in archaeological contexts, they have a better place here than the 15 deniers of 1709-13 and the demi-sols of 1739-48!" Alas, unnumbered and unillustrated even by Hodder, the type remains unfairly outside of the scope of even most advanced French Colonies collections. Moogk's surveys of coins found in archaeological contexts in French Canada, published in various articles, were well summarized by Phil Mossman in his article "Money of the 14th Colony: Nova Scotia," published in The Colonial NewsletterIssue 124 (December 2003). Citing Moogk, Mossman lays out a table of the 770 coins recovered at Fortress Louisbourg. Of the 362 coppers, 43 were sols de Dardennes! This outnumbered every other copper type handily, with the exception of the diminutive liards of three deniers, mostly struck in the 1650s. Darryl Atchison helps to correct the record in his Canadian Numismatic Bibliography, writing that "Glib assertions by officials in 1723 that colonists were strangers to copper and base metal currency collapsed in the face of archaeological evidence that copper doubles and liards, as well as brass dardennes, were the everyday money of colonists." He even illustrates the type on page 77, page 87, and page 97, the last page referencing R.C. Willey's Canadian Numismatic Journalarticle of March 1979, which describes the circulation of the sols de Dardennes. To summarize the respect this coin has received, one of those found at Louisbourg was uncovered in a latrine. This design type was struck at three mints: La Rochelle, on the Atlantic Coast (H); Montpelier, on the Mediterranean coast (N); and Aix, also in southern France near Marseille (&). It's likely the pieces from La Rochelle have the most North American relevance. Provenance: From the Sydney F. Martin Collection. Earlier ex John Kraljevich, January 2012. PCGS# 650082. Click here for certification details from PCGS. Image with the PCGS TrueView logo is obtained from and is subject to a license agreement with Collectors Universe, Inc. and its divisions PCGS and PSA.