Ten Louis D’Or

Triton XIX, Lot: 2329. Estimate $5000. Sold for $60000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

FRANCE, Royal. Louis XIII le Juste (the Just). 1610–1643. AV Pièce de dix louis d’or à la tête laurée (45mm, 67.78 g, 6h). Paris mint. Dated 1640 A (though probably a mid-19th century restrike). Laureate head right / Crowned cruciform double L monogram around mint letter in annulet; lis in quarters. Droulers 13; Duplessy 1294; Ciani 1607; KM 114; Friedberg 406. EF. LOT SOLD AS IS, NO RETURNS.

From the collection of Dr. Lawrence A. Adams. Ex Schweizerischer Bankverein 29 (28 January 1992), lot 827.

Scholarly opinion is divided on the authenticity of this issue. E.G.V. Newman, having examined the present specimen in hand alongside the example held in the British Museum, initially determined it to be an authentic contemporary piece, noting that this coin features less die deterioration in the reverse ‘IMP...’. However, the late Sylvia Hurter asserted without elaboration that the coin was a later strike produced in the time of Napoléon III. Though Hurter declined to elaborate on her reasoning, Dr. Adams hypothesized that her doubts may have originated in the lower fineness of this example (0.903 versus the usual 0.917) and the plain edge. Adams suggests that, as these were not regular circulating issues and were rather used at the royal gambling tables and for presentation purposes, they need not have been held to the same rigorous standards of fineness.