1720-A L.d'arg Gad-305 Petit Louis MS(PCGS#620212)

Winter 2022 U.S. Coins Auction

拍卖行

Stack's Bowers

批号

1053

等级

MS63

价格

16,950

详细说明

France. 1720-A 1/3 Ecu. Paris Mint. Gadoury-305. MS-63 (PCGS). 123.6 grains. Not overstruck. Brilliant silver gray with exceptional frosty luster on both sides. Shallow natural striations are seen on both sides, giving this piece a textured appearance. Only a short and subtle scratch behind the head is worthy of mention as a post-striking defect. Handsome, well detailed, and well centered, a nice example of the so-called “petite Louis d’argent.” Additional information pertaining to this lot: The "John Law" Series of 1719-1721 None of the "John Law" coins were struck to officially circulate in Nouvelle France. Their special relevance comes from their relationship to the Scottish economist John Law, whose Compagnie des Indes took over control of the French coining franchise in July 1719 and held it until January 1721. Law's Mississippi Bubble scheme has been intelligently described in reference works, both economic and numismatic, for generations; in short, it backed issues of paper money with the wealth of France's American possessions while ensuring circulation of the paper money by revaluing and withdrawing specie from circulation. Law's ideas were revolutionary but the practice of them proved to be a failure, ruinous to both him and the French economy. Michael Hodder's best work is also the best work on this subject; unfortunately, it was printed in small numbers and is nearly impossible to find today. His "The Compagnie des Indes and the Premiere Benefice des Monnaies: French Coinage and the Mississippi Scheme, 1719-1720," published in the first issue and volume (1992) of the Fifth Series of The Canadian Antiquarian and Numismatic Journalis the best numismatic-focused summary of Law, the political and economic background of his takeover of the French mints, and why this matters to coin collectors. He summarized it in his 1992 ANS COAC paper. The coinage issues of 1720, popularly called "John Law's coinage," have been a perennial source of confusion and error for collectors and cataloguers of French-Canadian coins. Neither Zay nor Breton included the 1720 coins, but Leroux did. Apparently on the strength of Leroux' catalogue Breen wrote in his ANS study "...Law, as director of the mints, ordered certain coins to be shipped to the colonies, consisting apparently of only the following" and then listed 10 different coinage issues he attributed to John Law. In his Encyclopedia, published 12 years later, Breen specifically listed as John Law issues only the copper demi-sol and sol au buste enfantin (Gadoury-273, 276). He mentioned in an introductory paragraph the 1720-A petit Louis d'argent (Gadoury-305) as a John Law coin. From July 25, 1719 to January 5, 1721, Law's Compagnie des Indes enjoyed the premier benefice des monnaies and operated the French mints for their own profit. Coin types specifically authorized by the crown during this period, and others for which deliveries of dies to local mints fall within these dates, may be considered to be "John Law" coins. Modern American collectors tend to assume that a coin type struck during Law's control of the mints is automatically a "colonial coin," because of the association between Law and his Mississippi Scheme. For example, the Garrett Collection sale included specimens of the 1720-A demi-sol au buste enfantin (Lot 1298, Gadoury-273), the 1720-A livre d'argent fin (Lot 1299, Gadoury-296), and the 1720-B petit Louis d'argent (Lot 1300, Gadoury-305) as French colonial coins. The "colonial" association is misleading, however. Law, in common with his generation, looked upon the French overseas colonies as sources of natural products to be purchased at home on credit, payable in finished goods exported to the colony. His attitudes toward hard currency in the colonies, as well as at home, became negative in the extreme and from the beginning his scheme may have been aimed at withdrawing specie currency from circulation entirely. The coinages struck during his control of the mints, until the recoinage of September, 1720, were grudgingly approved and not altogether successful. None was struck for Canada. The Council's order directing the La Rochelle mint to strike copper 12 deniers pieces in 1720 is the only exception to Law's disinterest in coinage for Canada and the other overseas colonies, and, as we have seen, even this issue was not actually struck. The question of which coins may properly be considered "John Law" coins has been discussed in my "The Compagnie des Indes and the Premiere Benefice des Monnaies: French Coinage and the Mississippi Scheme, 1719-1720."There appear to be three copper, 10 silver, and three gold types attributable to the period of Law's control of the French mints. It should be reemphasized that "the coin types included...are the company's, but they are not necessarily colonial...All of the coins listed...had currency value in the French colonies and any colonist lucky enough to have had these when he landed would have been in an enviable position compared to the coin-poor residents of his new home." The 1720-dated coins have always been the focus of collector interest in the United States and Canada. Undoubtedly some of all these circulated in North America, just as some of pretty much any French (or English, Latin American, etc.) type of this era would have. Archaeological evidence shows these coppers have been found more often, but so too would coppers have been lost more often without a dutiful search to ensure their rediscovery. Provenance: From the Sydney F. Martin Collection. Earlier from Early American Numismatic Auctions, August 1996, lot 494. PCGS# 620212. 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.