LOT   /  Toronto Coin Expo Spring Sale 2019  / 

321

1720-D [Lyon Mint] John Law Gold Louis D’or aux 2L, Gadoury 337.

Currency:CAD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:1,250.00 CAD Estimated At:2,500.00 - 3,000.00 CAD
1720-D [Lyon Mint] John Law Gold Louis D’or aux 2L, Gadoury 337.
SOLD
2,100.00CAD+ buyer's premium (420.00)
This item SOLD at 2019 May 02 @ 19:40UTC-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-D [Lyon Mint] John Law Gold Louis D’or aux 2L, Gadoury 337. Very Fine, overstruck on an earlier (1716-1718) Croix de Malte (type of Gadoury 336). Choice Very Fine or slightly better, a well-struck example of this extremely rare type. Everything bold, with light, even wear on the obverse bust. A small scratch in the right obverse field is noted, as are a few smaller circulation marks, not unexpected for a soft-metal coin that spent some time used as currency. Lovely light yellow, the surfaces hard and with some original luster in the protected areas. This is one of two examples of this date and mintmark that were in the January, 2006 sale of the John J. Ford, Jr. collection held by Stack’s, and comes with the original lot ticket from that auction. Ford was fond of owning multiple examples of rarities and was collecting this series at a time when many North Americans were still unaware of the relevance of this French coinage to their own interests. Yet despite at least 15 years spent pursuing these, Ford was only to obtain 5 gold John Law pieces – 2 each of the 1720-A and 1720-D, and one 1720-W. This is a very telling comment on rarity and had Ford been given the opportunity to buy more he certainly would have – as a case in point, his collection of gold coins from the Le Chameau treasure ship contained over 70 pieces! Gold coins would have been seldom seen in Canada and North America – the French crown, like the British, preferred to keep specie at home, and instead the former sent billon and the latter sent copper. But we know that some precious metal coinage was sent by each power based on the recovery of two treasure ships, the Chameau from France and the H.M.S. Feversham on the British side. This higher value coinage would have been needed to pay for large expenses in North America (usually military in nature), but it would be expected that the gold and, to a lesser extent, silver coin would flow back to the mother countries in the course of trade. John Law would have preferred to keep all specie at home, and the few gold examples of the coins issued under his authority that did make it to North America likely came in the pockets and purses of travelers (though a good amount of silver did reach New Orleans, which was needed to pay for the large volume of goods traded through that port). A truly important piece – very rare, attractive, and with a provenance to one of the largest and most choice collections of the French Colonies coinages ever formed. Another piece we expect strong bidder interest in.
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