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Silver Lion Eassai Rarity by Congo Kid

6 posts in this topic

  • Member: Seasoned Veteran
Posted

One tough one left.

 

I recently bought one of the last of the 1965 10 Francs Essai coins that was struck in silver and just had it graded and it is now graded NGC MS64. I found it in a London auction. I have the aluminum version NGC MS66, copper-nickel version NGC MS64, and a copper uniface Die Trial NGC MS65BN. So the last piece left is one struck in gold, which is listed in Krause, but I have never seen or heard of one existing in the many years that I have been collecting this series. The silver piece is very rare with only 3 graded by NGC MS63, MS64 (this piece, not yet listed in census), and MS65. PCGS does not show any graded, but it looks like they don't have any of the essais listed in their population report.

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Posted

Very nice coin and super dedication in finding these. Wish you a lot of luck in finding the gold one soon.

 

Almost makes me want to switch to the "dark side" of coin collecting. There are an awful lot of interesting designs out there.

 

 

Doug

Posted

Were these privately made or an actual part of a coinage contract?

Posted

Thanks a lot! Do come over to the dark side and see the light. There are so many more possibilities in World Coins. So many countries and so much history to explore. More opportunities to find unknown treasures out there.

The regular, business strike aluminum issued coins were meant for commerce. Many were recalled and melted down, but the number of pieces extant are many. But it is quite difficult to find them in ultra-high grades. The highest that I know of is MS66, which NGC reports having graded 5, two of which I own, and PCGS has only graded one in MS66 with none higher.

 

And a note, the coin that I called copper above is actually bronze and it is a piefort as well.