CGB Live Auction – December 7, 2021 – Treasure trove from the Pontivy area

In 1994, some private individuals found a treasure trove of 117 gold coins in the ground in an outbuilding of their farm in the Pontivy area. The coins were found at the foot of a fireplace, most probably from the 14^th century. This trove was reported and studied by the Cabinet des médailles of the Bibliothèque nationale de France (published in Trésors monétaires XXII).

This whole set of coins is quite consistent. It is comprised of gold coins, mainly French ones, from a rather short period of time. The oldest ones are Charles IV royaux d’or (1322-1328) minted after February 16, 1326. Four of them were found in the trove. Philippe VI (1328-1350) coins (43 coins, i.e. 36.75%) and Jean II (1350-1365) coins (50 coins, i.e. 42.74%) are by far the most numerous ones.

The trove also includes 18 Charles V (1364-1380) francs à cheval et à pied – the most recent coins in this treasure trove. Nevertheless, it should be reminded that Charles V’s francs à pied were minted under Charles VI until March 11, 1385.

In addition to these French coins, this coin trove is comprised of two foreign coins, i.e. a gold noble in the name of Edward III, King of England (1327-1377, lot fwo_677860) and a gold sheep of Jeanne and Wenceslas from the Duchy of Brabant (1355-1383, lot fwo_677864), which could have been mistaken for a French mouton d’or coin.

At first sight, and because of the place where this treasure trove was found, the absence of Breton ducal gold coins may seem surprising; it is actually due to their great rarity. Nor is surprising the absence of feudal Florins because they are mostly found in the East and South of France. Due to its rarity, the most amazing coin in this treasure is Philippe VI’s gold crown, which was only found in five other troves

In addition to this crown, the treasure trove from the Pontivy area is comprised of many rare Philippe VI’s gold coins, most of which are usually found in the Northen and Western parts of France, such as royaux coins (lots bry_677566, bry_677567, bry_677568, bry_677569, bry_677570 and bry_677571), double coins (lots bry_677692, bry_677695, bry_677697, bry_677698, bry_677699 and bry_677701), pavillon coins and ange coins. The écus d’or à la chaise (11 ex.) are more widespread and clearly not as rare. Only a few great rarities such as the chaise d’or, the Georges florin and the gold parisis coins were not found in this treasure.

The CGB Numismatique December 2021 Live Auction sale will put up for sale a set of 681 coins covering all numismatic period. This sale's Live closing including the 117 royal coins of the Pontivy treasure trove will take place on Tuesday, December 7, 2021 from 2 pm on our cgb.fr website.