287, Lot: 617. Estimate $100. Sold for $60. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

UNITED STATES, Colonial & Related. Pre-Revolutionary Imports. CU Sol (25mm, 4.68 g, 6h). “John Law’s coppers” type. Paris mint. Dated 1720. Head of Louis XV right / Crowned coat-of-arms. Breen 298; Whitman –; Duplessy 1692. Poor, porous, clear date. Rare.

This issue was struck during the brief time that the radical Scottish economist John Law was in charge of the French treasury. Law, also responsible for the infamous Mississippi Bubble and the subsequent devaluation of French paper money, ordered a number of domestic French coppers to be sent to Canada for circulation. Although unlikely that more than a handful ever reached American shores, these pieces are nevertheless sought after by collectors of colonial coins.