1721-B French Colonies 9 Deniers. Rouen Mint. Martin 1.1-A.3, W-11825. Rarity-4. EF Details--Environmental Damage (PCGS).

92.4 grains. The rarest date-mint combination in this brief series and the only from the Rouen Mint. Attractive medium brown and steel over evenly but lightly granular surfaces. The obverse is aligned to 8 o'clock, allowing the denticles at right to show their full length and prominence. The reverse is similarly aligned to 10 o'clock. The planchet cut is a bit crude and not quite round, most evident at the top of the reverse. A planchet striation and lamination may be seen left of the mintmark, extending to between 17 of the date. The strike is even, and the details are crisp, an uncommon scenario for this poorly made issue. Very scarce in any grade, the 1721-B nine deniers are essentially never found in high grade and rarely found choice. Rough and striated planchets are the rule, and axial misalignment often condemns portions of the design to loss via wear. We've sold just 16 of these in the last dozen years, most of which (if we're being honest) were pretty ugly. One of the only smooth and pleasing pieces among them was Craige:6245, sold in our November 2012 sale for $23,500 despite being certified just VF-20 (PCGS).

PCGS# 905863.

From the Sydney F. Martin Collection. Earlier from our (Stack's) sale of the Eliasberg and Krause Collections, March 2010, lot 2093.