(ca. 1784) Ephraim Brasher Regulated French 1735-R Louis dOr ($4.52). Orleans Mint. 123.9 grains. Fine Details--Plugged (PCGS). Plugged at Center, Countermarked EB.，An extremely rare Louis dOr countermarked by Ephraim Brasher of the legendary Brasher Doubloon. Brasher worked as a gold and silversmith in New York following the evacuation of the British Army on November 25, 1783. A good friend and neighbor of then-General George Washington, he quickly gained the confidence of regional merchants and became perhaps the most prolific regulator of the era. His unmistakable EB touch mark is now associated with an exclusive and mythical realm of numismatics, and the present piece is among the most elusive representatives bearing the Brasher mark.<p> <p>The coveted EB counterstamp is nicely centered over King Louis XVs portrait, rendered on top of Brashers own regulating plug. The surfaces are bright and glossy in most areas from time spent cherished as jewelry, with a hole apparent at 12 oclock that has been plugged and re-engraved. Similarly, the central, regulating plug has also been re-engraved on the reverse. Though the plug at the rim was added long after Brasher made his adjustment, this specimens current weight of 123.9 grains is still masterfully aligned to the 5 dwt, 4 grains (124 grains) standard that Brasher would have been regulating to. <p><p>This standard was established by the Bank of New York in May of 1784, which dictated that "French Guinea(s)", or Louis dOrs, would be received and paid out at a weight of 5 dwt, 4 grains with a value of $4.52, not the $4 2/3 as stated on the current PCGS label. This valuation would continue to be the accepted rate up through the establishment of the U.S. Mint, with the Congressional Act of February 9, 1793, calling for "the gold coins of France, Spain and the dominions of Spain [to be valued] at the rate of one hundred cents for every twenty-seven grains and two-fifths of a grain." When calculated out, we see that this is virtually the same standard established by the Bank of New York a decade earlier. The U.S. Mint would not strike its own gold coinage for circulation until 1795 and the acceptance of foreign gold coins like the Louis dOr was a crucial element of the growth in the early American economy. Regulators like Brasher were essential in the maintenance of this haphazard monetary system, and the present piece is a hugely significant relic of this foundational era. <p><p>Brasher marks on French coinage are extremely rare, with only a few examples known to exist. Specialist Ralph Gordon makes mention of just one known French Louis dOr with the Brasher stamp in his 1987 reference <em>West Indies Countermarked Gold Coins</em>, which could likely be an allusion to this very piece. When offered in Kagins ANA Auction of August 1983, this specimen was catalogued as "possibly unique" and "the only French coin countermarked by…Brasher known to numismatists today." It was more recently featured as part of the incredible Edward Roehrs Collection in August 2010 and was, remarkably, the only French counterstamped piece therein.，Ex Spinks sale of May 1981, lot 220; Kagins ANA sale of August 1983, lot 282; Heritages sale of the Edward Roehrs Collection of U.S. Regulated Gold, August 2010, lot 21342.，
