Heritage World Coin Auctions
Long Beach Signature Currency Sale 3558 7-8 Sep 2017
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World Currency
France Banque de France 100 Francs ND (ca. 1917) Pick 75 Face and Counter Proofs. During the course of 1916-17 ABNCo spent a good deal of time and effort developing concepts for a 100 Franc design for the Bank of France. The French government planned to issue these notes in the event that Paris fell to the Central Powers. That event and the notes, therefore, never materialized. There is evidence that some, if not all, of the design was based on the work of Alonzo Earl Foringer and that the face proof offered here was one of several designs considered. The central vignette is a variation on the female figure titled Allegory Railroad . In it, a maiden stands atop a winged wheel, but the locomotives, seen on several other versions, have been removed from her sides. Also included are two progress die proofs of the counters that flank the allegorical vignette, with one being the blue-green ink pass and one the orange-brown ink pass. These printings had to be precisely aligned in order to produce the desired effect. PCGS grades the face proof Superb Gem New 67PPQ and the two counter proofs Gem New 65PPQ and Gem New 66PPQ. An interesting set of proofs that chronicle one of the great "Could Have Beens" of World War I. HID08701242017
Estimate: 12500-17500 USD
France Banque de France 100 Francs ND (ca. 1917) Pick 75 Face and Counter Proofs. During the course of 1916-17 ABNCo spent a good deal of time and effort developing concepts for a 100 Franc design for the Bank of France. The French government planned to issue these notes in the event that Paris fell to the Central Powers. That event and the notes, therefore, never materialized. There is evidence that some, if not all, of the design was based on the work of Alonzo Earl Foringer and that the face proof offered here was one of several designs considered. The central vignette is a variation on the female figure titled Allegory Railroad . In it, a maiden stands atop a winged wheel, but the locomotives, seen on several other versions, have been removed from her sides. Also included are two progress die proofs of the counters that flank the allegorical vignette, with one being the blue-green ink pass and one the orange-brown ink pass. These printings had to be precisely aligned in order to produce the desired effect. PCGS grades the face proof Superb Gem New 67PPQ and the two counter proofs Gem New 65PPQ and Gem New 66PPQ. An interesting set of proofs that chronicle one of the great "Could Have Beens" of World War I. HID08701242017
Estimate: 12500-17500 USD