 Louis XV. The Avenger of Fraud, 1716. B.125, B.I. Obverse signed I.LE.BLANC.F on truncation; reverse signed D.V. (Du Vivier) in right field. Silver. 41.2 mm. 547.7 gns. Obverse: The youthful bust of Louis XV. Reverse: Hercules about to bludgeon the thief Cacus who had stolen his cows. The reverse is dated 1716 and notes its authority, the Chambre de Justice. On this medal, which Benjamin Betts correctly listed as the first, the reform of the sorry state of French finances at the end of Louis XIV's reign is allegorized by the tale of Hercules and Cacus. The medal does not refer to Law and is dated a year or two before his real ascendance. About Uncirculated. Prooflike, with beautiful iridescent toning. Bevelled rims 2.6 - 2.9 mm. thick and partially filed (as customary at the Paris Mint).
Ex Jacques Schulman's sale of November 8, 1971, lot 1451.
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