1779-A 3 Sols Lec-6 MS (PCGS#214990)
Winter 2022 U.S. Coins Auction
- Auctioneer
- Stack's Bowers
- Lot Number
- 1146
- Grade
- MS63
- Price
- 780
- Lot Description
- Isles de France & de Bourbon. 1779-A 3 Sols. Paris Mint. Lecompte-6. MS-63 (PCGS).
30.7 grains. An unusually pristine example of this usually heavily circulated billon coinage, struck for the islands of Mauritius and Reunion in the Indian Ocean. Highly lustrous silver gray with beautiful violet and gold toning. A little soft at the upper obverse periphery and the lower right reverse periphery, but still exceptionally attractive and well-detailed. A tiny, folded lamination is seen atop the reverse. This piece's similarity to and relationship with the West Indies-bound billon coins of this era inspired its inclusion in this collection. Vlack drew a special relationship between this coin and the Cayenne 3 sous of the sort included in the next lot.
Additional information pertaining to this lot:
The French West Indies
Syd was a universalist when it came to French colonial coins, and for good reason. The economy of the New World didn't stop as soon as the water got deep in the harbors of Boston, Philadelphia, Charleston, or New Orleans. Instead, the West Indies were a key part of Vast Early America. People and goods (and money) were constantly exchanged among these colonies and, later, nations, and even very unusual 18th century coins from the West Indies turn up in American archaeological contexts. Syd's collection was extensive and impressive, and what follows is just a sample.
Provenance: From the Sydney F. Martin Collection. Earlier ex American Heritage Minting, December 2008.
PCGS# 214990.
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