A treasure of 17th century gold coins has been discovered during renovation of a mansion in Plozévet, Brittany, northwestern France. The coins were found in 2019 when the mansion’s owners, Véronique and François Mion, decided to connect two buildings (a barn and a plant nursery). Three stonemasons working on an interior wall came across a metal box filled with gold coins embedded in the wall. Three days later, they found a fabric bag of coins stashed over a beam on another wall.
They recovered 239 gold coins, 23 minted under Louis XIII, 216 under Louis XIV. The coins were minted between 1638 and 1692. There are two stand-out pieces: a Louis d’or with the Templar Cross, struck by the Dijon mint and issued by King Louis XIII in 1640, and a Double Louis d’or with a long lock (referring to the tendril of hair curling down Louis’ neck) minted in Paris and issued by King Louis XIV in 1646 when he was all of eight years old. There are only 120 known examples of the Double Louis with long lock known to exist.
The earliest parts of the manor date to the 13th century. The estate is believed to have belonged to a family of wealthy merchants. The last known residents (before the current owners) lived there in the mid-18th century. The area was lively with trade in the 17th century, a stop on the network transporting Bordeaux wines to England and grains to northern Europe.
The obvious question is how many coins did these workmen ACTUALLY find vs how many coins they admitted to finding......
ReplyDeleteNot that obvious to those of us who were brought up by honest, hard working people who always try to do the right thing. We find your "question" in poor taste and offensive.
DeleteGo read the article on History Blog. The coins are to be sold at auction with the proceeds split among the workmen who found them and the property owners whose property they were found on. Good honest workmen.
DeleteJust because YOU find the observation offensive in no way negates the REALITY that LOTS of people will steal if given the opportunity to do so without fear of consequences. If that wasn't reality we wouldn't need cops and courts. Grow up and join reality.....
DeleteBest thing I ever found in an old house was a bunch of Nazi postcards from the 1930's and a couple of Mercury head dimes
ReplyDeleteSold the postcards....kept the dimes
DeleteThey look complete and in good condition so they can't be Bitsacoins.
ReplyDeleteInteresting: a Templar Cross 300 years after the Templars were eradicated?
ReplyDeleteMaybe they weren't.
I only find dead critters
ReplyDeleteHow much do you suppose that they are worth? US dollars? Oh wait. I know. With the chronic printing of money by our leaders those coins are probably worth about 50 trillion/US.
ReplyDeleteHow much are each of them worth? ...A lot...with a house on it....
ReplyDelete