Sale: CNG 69, Lot: 1946. Estimate $2500.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 8 June 2005.  Sold For $2500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

FRANCE, Provincial. Chinon-Tours. Struck after 954 AD. AR Denier (1.48 gm, 9h). TVRON, crude diademed and draped bust right / +CAINONI CASTRO, short voided cross. Poey d'Avant 1669; Roberts 5051; Depeyrot 322. Good VF, toned, with spots of hard verdigris. Rare. ($2500)

The first coins from Chinon, deniers with the name and portrait of Louis IV d'Outremer (936-954 AD; Depeyrot 318), were replaced by anonymous portrait issues on the standard of the Tours deniers, the trade coin of medieval France. This coin was the prototype for a long series of increasingly degenerate portrait coins that were struck in numerous locations through the 13th century.