Stack's Bowers & Ponterio
March 2019 Hong Kong Auction 25-27 Mar 2019
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FRENCH COCHIN CHINA. Silver Piastre Essai (Pattern), 1879-A. Paris Mint. PCGS SP-61 Gold Shield.
KM-E12; Gad-8; Lec-28. EXTREMELY RARE. Three Paris Mint Chief-Engravers (all from the same family) collaboratively designed this iconic silver crown. First engraved by Albert Barre until his sudden death in 1878, then finished by his brother Auguste Barre. The obverse design bears great similarity to the Great Seal of France as designed by their father Jean-Jacques Barre, with notable changes to reinforce its association with colonial affairs. The reasoning for basing the design on the Great Seal of France was to demonstrate French sovereignty over the region. Liberty reclines facing left, with her head facing, adorned with a laurel crown with seven arches. She holds a fasces (seen as a symbol of collective power) and resting atop a ship's tiller. Behind the tiller appears a marine anchor, symbolizing the administration of Indo-China by the French ministry of the "Marine and Colonies". Rice stalks appear to the left of Liberty, replacing the symbol of western agriculture, wheat. In exergue, the engraver's name (BARRE) and the date of 1879 appear. The reverse design features the denomination at the center of the design: "PIASTRE DE COMMERCE" surrounded by a wreath of laurel (glory) and oak (longevity) leaves. The mintmark of Paris ("A") appears below the central inscription flanked by two engraver's marks. The last one we had, graded PCGS SP-63, was lot 61023 in our December 2015 Hong Kong sale and sold for $37,500. This example is fully struck, as befits an essai, and is charcoal hued throughout toned. A few inconsequential marks and instances of handling are buried beneath the tone and determine the assigned grade.
Estimate: $20000.00- $24000.00
KM-E12; Gad-8; Lec-28. EXTREMELY RARE. Three Paris Mint Chief-Engravers (all from the same family) collaboratively designed this iconic silver crown. First engraved by Albert Barre until his sudden death in 1878, then finished by his brother Auguste Barre. The obverse design bears great similarity to the Great Seal of France as designed by their father Jean-Jacques Barre, with notable changes to reinforce its association with colonial affairs. The reasoning for basing the design on the Great Seal of France was to demonstrate French sovereignty over the region. Liberty reclines facing left, with her head facing, adorned with a laurel crown with seven arches. She holds a fasces (seen as a symbol of collective power) and resting atop a ship's tiller. Behind the tiller appears a marine anchor, symbolizing the administration of Indo-China by the French ministry of the "Marine and Colonies". Rice stalks appear to the left of Liberty, replacing the symbol of western agriculture, wheat. In exergue, the engraver's name (BARRE) and the date of 1879 appear. The reverse design features the denomination at the center of the design: "PIASTRE DE COMMERCE" surrounded by a wreath of laurel (glory) and oak (longevity) leaves. The mintmark of Paris ("A") appears below the central inscription flanked by two engraver's marks. The last one we had, graded PCGS SP-63, was lot 61023 in our December 2015 Hong Kong sale and sold for $37,500. This example is fully struck, as befits an essai, and is charcoal hued throughout toned. A few inconsequential marks and instances of handling are buried beneath the tone and determine the assigned grade.
Estimate: $20000.00- $24000.00