honestly don't know why I bought this... CLEMENT VIII PAPE AVIGNON DOUZAIN 1597 I came across it in my search for colonials... obviously in the wrong place.. I liked it but went on searching... seller made me an offer of 25 so I said screw it and pulled the trigger.... still not sure "why" I bought it but for some reason it speaks to me.... and for $25 I can afford to indulge a little lol...
One little niche of my collecting are the 1640 countermarked douzains. They were revalued with a fleur de lys counterstamp, and had a higher value in the French colonies in America than in France so circulated heavily there. They found their way to the British colonies as well. It is amazing to be able to get coins that may have circulated side by side with Massachusetts silver for such a low price. I try to get as many undertypes as I can find and have two of the Papal douzains, one Avignon and one Carpentras. Not a lot of reference material on these coins, and of course much of what is available is in French, so IDing and researching these coins can be a little tough!
I would like somebody to explain to me the phenomenon of certain coins calling out to us… I totally get it and have total experienced the phenomenon….. Shall we say.. Frequently….. I once saw a thread by @C-B-D where he was unhappy that a coin he sold was returned to him. I saw his photo and that coin screamed my name. I immediately sent him a PM wanting… No, needing that coin. I didn’t even ask the price.
I’ve experienced the same thing. The coin speaks to me but I’m the one that hears it. It’s maddening and it makes me think I’m going crazy. I just have to have that coin and the price doesn’t matter.
Randy, it's not so much "hearing" the call, we must actually understand that particular language to understand that we are being summoned. I happen to be multilingual in that regard.
