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“IHS” countermarked on a 1589-A [Compiegne Mint] Henri IV Double Sol Parisis

Currency:CAD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:125.00 CAD Estimated At:300.00 - 400.00 CAD
“IHS” countermarked on a 1589-A [Compiegne Mint] Henri IV Double Sol Parisis
SOLD
125.00CAD+ buyer's premium
This item SOLD at 2019 May 02 @ 18:28UTC-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.

Othere Countermarked French Issue - “IHS” countermarked on a 1589-A [Compiegne Mint] Henri IV Double Sol Parisis, Host coin the type of Ciani 1558, Duplessy 1242, Sombart 4482. Very Good or so, the legends weak, but enough there to make out the type and the last two digits of the date at the upper left obverse, but since this type was struck only from 1589-1593 that is enough. The mintmark is not visible, but only three mints reported coinage for this year, two of them unknown to Sombart, so the “A” mint seems the likely candidate here – but even that mint issued a paltry 7,500 coins for the year (and Sombart was not able to locate a single example in the collections he viewed), making for an extremely rare original coin and one that is likely unique with this countermark. These issues, known as pignatelles, were countermarked in the Republic and Canton of Geneva in 1592, and used within that area, where they circulated at an increased value of 3 ½ Sols – basically performing the same function of the 1640 countermarks applied by France nearly a half century later, and perhaps where the French got the idea from! While these were to circulate exclusively in Geneva, several have been found in Canada and the upper United States, which complicates their story somewhat. Some collectors have thought that the IHS countermark was something used by the Jesuits, perhaps as trade coins with the Huron Indians who regarded silver very highly; that theory has no proof yet found, but it does have a romantic flair to it – and perhaps some intrepid researcher can discover what (if any) connection these pignatelles have to North America. Regardless, the similarity of applying a small countermark to raise the value of a French billon coin makes this a type that should at least be an adjunct specimen in the collection of any French Colonies specialist. The pignatelles are themselves quite rare, seldom appearing for public sale – and on a host coin as rare as this, the piece should be of even more interest.