From everyone here at Stack’s Bowers Galleries we wish you happy holidays
and a wonderful New Year. This week’s preview for the January New York International auction offers a gorgeous medieval French gold coin. We are proud
to offer a substantial cache of this area of numismatics, which should cause
considerable excitement even among seasoned collectors. Our highlight is lot 20138, a Pavillon d’Or of Philip VI De
Valois. Philip’s reign became embroiled in conflict over his accession to the
throne, as his predecessor (Charles IV) left no direct male heirs. The closest
male relative to Charles was his maternal nephew, King Edward III of England.
After Edward secured the English throne he laid claim to the Kingdom of France
as well (although at that point, Philip had held it for nearly a decade).
Edward’s claim precipitated the Hundred Year’s War, a defining medieval
conflict.
The obverse design features an ornate throne with more fleur de lis than
you could shake a scepter at. Philip is pictured at center, garbed in the
regalia of the French monarchy. The reverse offers a familiar medieval design,
a floriated cross within quadrilobe, with crowns at the outer angles. This
piece displays a needle-sharp strike on a fully round planchet and clearly shows
all of the fine detail as well as crisp clear legends on both sides. This is a highly
lustrous, magnificent gem example of an artistically designed and highly
attractive type.
While we are no longer taking consignments for our January 2018 New York
International Auction, we are taking consignments of world and ancient coins as
well as world paper money for the upcoming May 2018 Collector’s Choice Online
Auction and the August 2018 ANA World’s Fair of Money Auction in Philadelphia.
We are also accepting consignments of Chinese and other Asian coins and
currency for our April 2018 Hong Kong Showcase Auction. Time is running short,
so if you are interested in consigning your coins and paper currency (whether a
whole collection or a single rarity) be sure to contact one of our consignment
directors.
