"The Lost Duvivier" -- One of Just Two Struck & Cited in Gadoury
FRANCE. Constitution. Silver Écu de 6 Livres Essai (Pattern), Year 2/1791. Paris Mint. Louis XVI. PCGS SPECIMEN-63.
cf. Maz-76 (copper); Gad-50.(a) (this coin cited; no value listed); cf. Ciani-2230 (copper). Plain edge. Mintage: 2. By B. DuVivier. Weight: 26.78 gms. DuVivier's design for the 1791 Écu competition, this type is known in various base metals, but silver stands as an IMMENSE RARITY, with Gadoury citing a mintage of just two specimens. Even more intriguing, his note for this type lists the present example as the only one of the two accounted for: " seul exemplaire retrouvé--collection Margolis, U.S.A. " Supremely elegant and attractively engraved, with a wondrous portrait of the king and a well-sculpted Genius. The strike is magnificently rendered, and an alluring level of gunmetal gray toning and accompanying iridescence enlivens its nature that much more. A tremendous and possibly UNIQUE opportunity given the unknown status of its counterpart. This exceptionally impressive specimen was something of a triumph for Margolis, as he writes that "...November 6, 1964 was truly a red letter day for my collection. During a visit to 17, rue de la Banque, in Paris, to visit the renowned Jules Florange et Cie firm, Mme. Nadia Kapamadji, its long-time director, laid before me no fewer than eight original strikings by various engravers of lettered edge silver 5 franc essays of Louis XVIII, from the Monetary Competition of 1815. Most of them were unpublished, (Victor Gadoury published them subsequently based on my informing him of their existence). During that same visit, having told Mme Kapamadji that the most desirable essay I ever hoped to obtain for my collection was an example of what I had become accustomed to calling "the lost Duvivier", namely his essay in silver for the Monetary Competition of 1791. I opened her copy of V.G. and showed her the example in copper illustrated there. In silver it had been listed only a single time, by Conbrouse in 1839, when it was in the Lambert collection, and never anywhere since. Mme. Kapamadji replied, "I think I have one" (or words to that effect). She got up from her desk, disappeared into one of the back rooms of her office, reappeared, and lay before me an example of the Duvivier silver essay. "
From the Richard Margolis Collection (acquired from Jules Florange & Cie. on 6 November 1964.)

Estimate: $10000.00- $20000.00