1658-A Douzain Gadoury-86 MS(PCGS#239629)

Winter 2022 U.S. Coins Auction

拍卖行

Stack's Bowers

批号

1007

等级

MS63

价格

72,036

详细说明

Very Rare Silver 1658-A Milled Douzain Likely Unique 1658-A French Colonies 12 Deniers. Silver. Gadoury-86, Ciani-1977, Breen-274. MS-63 (PCGS). A piece of spectacular quality and eye appeal. Somewhat confusingly catalogued in the 2006 Ford sale (in which the cataloguer believed this was a douzain of sixain diameter, which it is not), this was the only 1658 issue in that expansive cabinet of French Colonials and related issues. This example is struck from the same dies as the billon strike PCGS VF-35 we offered in November 2019 as lot 4038, the Partrick:99036 coin, and all other examples seen. With its precious silver composition, reflective surface and positively ideal centering, this coin was clearly specially struck as a specimen. Both sides are lustrous and lightly prooflike, toned light silver gray with hints of gold and some splashes of deeper color in the fields. Some trivial hairlines are visible under a good light, but no notable marks or striking defects are seen. The details are bold and exactingly well rendered on both sides. This extremely rare (possibly unique) silver off-metal strike is distinctive from the typical billon specimens, coined for a purpose other than mere circulation. Since this example sold in the January 2006 Ford sale, CoinArchives lists just five examples of the 1658 milled douzain in standard billon composition sold worldwide. All were sold in Europe (and, we should note, several sixains were sold with an incorrect description as douzains, including two in the United States). Of the authentic douzains, weights were listed for four of them: 3.43 grams, 3.36 grams, 3.37 grams, and 3.37 grams. This piece weighs 3.68 grams, an anomalous weight that underscores this pieces distinctive composition. All of the billon douzains, in both the United States and France, have been lower grade and, of course, without the delicate prooflike surface seen here. Breen's listing for 274 notes a single OMS (off-metal strike) in silver, sold in Jean Vinchon's December 1977 sale as lot 338: this precise coin. Neither Breen nor your cataloguer have ever heard rumor of another. In that Vinchon sale, this was described as "essai en argent du douzain" and "Rare. Superb." If this were simply a very high grade 1658 douzain in billon, this would be counted as the finest and most important survivor. As a potentially unique silver strike, its importance increases by a magnitude. Additional information pertaining to this lot: The Milled Sixains and Douzains of 1658 The inclusion of this type in the French North American canon can largely be left at the feet of Adam Shortt, who mentioned them explicitly in a long note on page 7 of his two volume collection Canadian Currency, Exchange, and Finance During the French Period, published in 1925. "In 1658," Shortt wrote, "two new coins were issued at 15 and 20 deniers, which were popularly named the sol and double sol." After conflating these coins incorrectly with the countermarked douzains of the Edict of 1640, the sols marques, Shortt noted that "considerable numbers were sent to Canada," which appears not to be the case. In 1976, Walter Breen connected this issue to a later 1662-dated entry in Shortt (page 17, note 2), though there's no reason to think that document intended this specific issue preferentially over all the other billon coinage then circulating in Canada (in fact, the use of the term sol marque suggests this issue wasn't intended at all). Bob Vlack probably got closer to the truth than either Shortt or Breen in his 2004 An Illustrated Catalogue of the French Billon Coinage in the Americaswhen he wrote "this issue is mentioned here only for completeness and is not considered a coinage of New France." In truth, the 1658 douzains would have been covered under the post-1658 Canadian revaluation that covered all douzains. Undoubtedly some made it to Canada, their desirability bolstered by the crying-up by the colonial administration. Provenance: From the Sydney F. Martin Collection. Earlier from Jean Vinchon Numismatique's sale of December 1977, lot 338; ex John J. Ford, Jr. Collection; our (Stack's) sale of the Ford Collection, Part XIII, January 2006, lot 19 (at $16,100); Dave Wnuck, via Jeff Rock, November 2006. PCGS# 239629. Click herefor 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. Click here to see Coins in Motion.[“Coins]