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1739-N Billon Sous Marques. Vlack 149b, the exceedingly rare BENEDITUM error. Rarity-8.

Currency:CAD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:500.00 CAD Estimated At:1,000.00 - 1,250.00 CAD
1739-N Billon Sous Marques.  Vlack 149b, the exceedingly rare BENEDITUM error.  Rarity-8.
SOLD
875.00CAD+ buyer's premium (175.00)
This item SOLD at 2019 May 02 @ 20:14UTC-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.

N – Montpellier Mint - 1739-N Billon Sous Marques. Vlack 149b, the exceedingly rare BENEDITUM error. Rarity-8. Choice About Uncirculated, in a PCGS slab where this is graded AU58 (though there is no real wear on the piece and it could have just as easily graded at a higher number). Boldly struck, every detail razor sharp, including the all-important error. The engraver left the “C” out of BENEDICTUM, resulting in a large gap at the end of the word and the different which Vlack calls an anchor but to our eyes looks far more like the head of a bird. This example was unknown to most collectors and was in the collection of Ted Craige, which was held by his family for 40 years after his death. It appeared as Lot 248 in the March, 2013 Stack’s-Bowers sale of his remarkable collection, where it was described as “this is the only example of the 1739-N Sou Marque (struck at the Montpellier Mint), to be graded by PCGS, and none at all have been seen by NGC. This piece is well struck and displays an even coating of warm lilac-gray patina. The smooth surfaces display faint porosity, and brief die cracks at 3 o'clock on each side, but no detracting abrasions or contact marks are evident. BENEDICTUM is misspelled as BENEDITUM along the reverse border. PCGS Population: 1; none finer.” Since that sale no other example has been graded by any of the services. Indeed, the only other example to appear at auction was the Vlack plate coin, a lightly rough VF. The present example is undoubtedly the finest known of this remarkable legend error and major rarity, and we expect keen interest when it crosses the auction block.