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1720-T [Nantes Mint] Petit Louis d’Argent (3 Livres), Gadoury 305.

Currency:CAD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:250.00 CAD Estimated At:600.00 - 700.00 CAD
1720-T [Nantes Mint] Petit Louis d’Argent (3 Livres), Gadoury 305.
SOLD
275.00CAD+ buyer's premium
This item SOLD at 2019 May 02 @ 19:52UTC-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.

The Chameau Treasure Ship Coinage - 1720-T [Nantes Mint] Petit Louis d’Argent (3 Livres), Gadoury 305. Likely Uncirculated, with the expected light roughness from saltwater immersion. The obverse center weakened from the salt water, but the peripheral legends are surprisingly strong on either side; the date at the base of the obverse is bold, the mintmark at the center of the reverse weaker but visible. Some light marks on either side, which could have been caused as the ship sank, or from the half-decade it spent before it started its journey across the Atlantic. There were a very small number of smaller silver coins dated earlier than the what made up the bulk of the silver coins found on the Chameau wreck, the Ecu and Half Ecu aux 8 L’s offered above. These other coins may have been part of the official shipment of silver and gold – or may have been the equivalent of pocket change for the sailors on board, who would certainly need some spending money once they reached the New World; the very small numbers found suggest that the latter is the more probable. Quite rare, only 6 pieces of this size were recovered, and only 2 or 3 were identifiable as to date and mintmark (the record isn’t clear on how many were the Petit Louis d’Argent and how many were the 1/3 Ecu types since the salvage firm used both terms interchangeably). What makes this particular specimen important and very historically interesting is the 1720 date – making this a piece of John Law silver that we know was on its way to the New World! It eventually reached it, some 250+ years after it started its voyage, and we suspect that it will remain on this side of the Atlantic where it will be more appreciated for what it is. While a single find of one 1720-dated coin certainly doesn’t mean that those issues were specifically sent to Canada, it does show that some came over in trade. A very important piece for the specialist.