Lot 917

Description

George III, emergency coinage, dollar (current for 4s 9d) with oval countermark, on a Tuscany, Ferdinand III (1791-1801), silver francescone or ten paoli, 1794 (KM.C.37, D.1521), (S.3765A). Grey tone, very fine/extremely fine, countermark very fine and excessively rare.

The host coin according to Harry Manville is he believed to be not the first known of this type but he could not locate this or any other published Italian example. The usual Spanish colonial coins were mostly used for this countermarked series but some normal circulating European crown size coins are also known to be countermarked. They include the French ecu and the Spanish Madrid and Seville eight reales coins. The use of a rather scarce Tuscany issue cannot be unexpected but apparently remained unknown and unpublished in all the standard references.