1710-D French Colonies 30 Deniers, or Mousquetaire. Piedfort. Vlack-Unlisted. Breen-281, Ciani-1985, as W-11712. VF Details--Damage (PCGS). <p>While this piece has been described as copper in the past, we are reasonably certain its actually billon, toned to a dark chocolate shade with hints of gray as are other well-circulated billon pieces. Mostly well struck on a specially made planchet, still retaining some natural mint-made file marks near the periphery. The right side of the obverse and reverse peripheries are both a bit softly struck. Some raised corrosion (also likely indicative of its status as billon) crosses the base of the right central L on the obverse. A fairly minor rim bruise below 9 oclock on the reverse appears to be the "damage" that earned this coin its PCGS designator. Another little rim bruise is seen above 9 oclock on the obverse, and scattered contact marks commensurate with the level of wear are seen on both sides.<p><p><p>A handsome example of this rarity, unlisted by Vlack, and misdescribed in the Whitman <em>Encyclopedia </em>as silver (which appears not to exist). We believe there are just three of these: the Ford-Martin specimen in the previous lot, this one, and the Lasser coin at Colonial Williamsburg. This piece is struck from the same dies as the Ford coin in the previous lot. PCGS# 158642. From the Sydney F. Martin Collection. Earlier from our sale of August 2017, lot 95; ex Anthony Terranova, August 2017.
