39

1640 countermark on a 1580-D [Lyon Mint] Henri III Double Sol Parisis, 2nd Type, Ciani 1444, Dupless

Currency:CAD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:300.00 CAD Estimated At:750.00 - 850.00 CAD
1640 countermark on a 1580-D [Lyon Mint] Henri III Double Sol Parisis, 2nd Type, Ciani 1444, Dupless

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.

Host Coin of Henri III (ruled 1574-1589), Vlack 1i Type - 1640 countermark on a 1580-D [Lyon Mint] Henri III Double Sol Parisis, 2nd Type, Ciani 1444, Duplessy 1136, Sombart 4472. Very Fine, a well-struck example of this large coin, completely unknown as a type and denomination to Vlack. The host coin is twice the weight of the Sol denomination (offered in the above lot), and a bit more than double the weight of the douzain types usually found as a host coin for the 1640 countermarks – and they were worth twice as much as a regular sol in circulation. The fleur-de-lys countermark on this issue raised its value from 30 Deniers (i.e. double the value of a Sol of 15 Deniers) to 36 Deniers. The legends are mostly full, the date at the top of the obverse bold, while the mintmark is sharp on the reverse (on this type it is crammed into the space before SIT, and faces in the opposite direction of that word). The central designs are a bit weaker on the obverse than the reverse, though all visible, and with a large, bold stamp on the obverse. Antique pewter grey, the surfaces showing some hints of original silvering around the letters, and with only a few marks from circulation. Unlike the Sol Parisis host coin offered in the above lot, the Double Sol denomination was obviously larger than a douzain and would have circulated at its real value as a regular coin and at the increased rate in North America with the fleur-de-lys countermark. While Lyon struck 146,000 of this denomination in 1580 it seems that few have survived – Sombart lists just a single specimen known to him, and while the denomination is quite rare, it is even more so as a countermarked issue, the rarity perhaps accounting for Breen, Vlack and other authors not even knowing of their existence. An important coin for the specialist.