1828

FRANCE, Paris mint (for use in the French colonies), lot of four billon 2 sols (24 deniers), Louis X

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / Coins: Shipwreck Coins Start Price:160.00 USD Estimated At:200.00 - 400.00 USD
FRANCE, Paris mint (for use in the French colonies), lot of four billon 2 sols (24 deniers), Louis X
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FRANCE, Paris mint (for use in the French colonies), lot of four billon 2 sols (24 deniers), Louis XV, 1743 or date not visible, very rare provenance, ex-Peterson. Vlack-22; Gad-281. 6.63 grams total. The Vlack reference states: "Specimens examined indicate they were part of a hoard recovered from the French frigate, St Geran, that sunk [sic] during a gale when it struck shoals en route to the Île de France (Mauritius) on August 17, 1744." The story of the St. Geran's sinking includes the tragic death of a young French lady traveling back from France to idyllic Mauritius (then known as Île de France) along with her betrothed, a crew member, her death ostensibly due to a prudish refusal to remove her clothing to keep from drowning, tragically choosing modesty over survival. In 1788 this anecdote became the core of the best-selling novel Paul et Virginie, by the French author Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, which also extolled the virtues of living harmoniously on an island without the constraints of social class divisions. All corroded yet with some detail visible (one rather nice), a few with light encrustation. Pedigreed to the Mendel Peterson collection, with original Brandenburg tag and copies of purchase receipt from him and relevant page of Vlack's reference book An Illustrated Catalogue of the French Billon Coinage in the Americas (2004). Recovered from: St. Geran, sunk in 1744 off Mauritius in the Indian Ocean