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1720-A [Paris Mint] John Law Livre d’Argent Fin.

Currency:CAD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:400.00 CAD Estimated At:1,000.00 - 1,250.00 CAD
1720-A [Paris Mint] John Law Livre d’Argent Fin.
SOLD
475.00CAD+ buyer's premium (95.00)
This item SOLD at 2019 May 02 @ 19:39UTC-4 : AST/EDT

Buyer’s Premiums will be added on all items as per the Terms & Conditions of the sale. Invoices will be emailed out after The Toronto Coin Expo.

1720-A [Paris Mint] John Law Livre d’Argent Fin. Gadoury 296, another. Extremely Fine, a previously UNLISTED variety within this rare type, without an engraver’s mark before the date on the reverse and with the inner band of the reverse crown complete, showing both an upper and lower band that gives the proper 3-D look to the crown compared to the coin offered above. Also well struck, the legends, date and mintmark all strong. Wonderful design detail, the hair on the king quite bold. Light gunmetal gray, the surfaces mostly hard, the reverse with a couple scratches, but overall quite pleasing. The reverse die was likely done by a different engraver than the above coin, though using the same or similar punches. On the above coin the words DOMINI BENEDICTUM run together with no space between them, while on the present piece the words are clearly separated. But the absence of an engraver’s mark is, by far, the most striking aspect of this piece – silver and gold issues would have been inspected and regulated to insure quality and appropriate weight, and the personal marks of the engraver and mint director were on the coins to guarantee that they met the decreed standards; if they did not, those marks showed who to blame. Engravers occasionally left their marks off copper coins – but those never contained anywhere near their face value in copper. To leave one’s mark off a silver or gold piece would have curried strong disfavor when noticed. Indeed, this is the ONLY example of this major type that we have ever seen without an engraver’s mark on the reverse. We note that the Ford sale contained four examples of this type, and we have traced a few dozen more at auction over the last quarter century – none of which lacked the engraver’s mark. One of the more important new discoveries in the series, and a coin that will likely spark interest amongst collectors!