Worth a trip to Long Beach

A portion of a hoard of French coins intended for use in North America over 300 years ago will be displayed at the Long Beach Coin, Currency, Stamp & Sports Collectibles Expo June 9-11.

Displaying the coins will be Mid-American Rare Coin Galleries and Texas Numismatic Investments. The firms call the pieces a million dollar hoard.

More than 2,000 pieces out of 7,083 that were originally found will be there for the public to view.

There are two interesting stories about the coins.

The first is they are listed in the Red Book under Colonial Issues for the French colonies. They are dated 1711 and have a “D” mintmark for the city of Lyon. They are a denomination of 30 deniers and are nicknamed “Mousquetaire.”

Having such a listing puts these coins on the radar of every collector of U.S. coins.

The mystery, or should I use the more French-sounding word, “mystique,” comes from the fact that the coins were found in England.

They were hidden under the floorboards of a shop in Bishop’s Waltham in Hampshire.

They were recovered over time 2008 to 2010 and examined by the British Museum

No one has yet determined why the coins were stashed away for hundreds of years.

“The New World Hoard is the largest known discovery of American Colonial coins,” said Casey Noxon, president of Texas Numismatic Investments, Inc.

Noxon said he was thrilled to be able to “share this historic discovery.”

There is no question the hoard is historic and no question that I feel a sense of awe at being connected to the 18th century.

It was a lively time of settlement and growth in North America where merchants were forever faced with coin shortages and the necessity of using whatever might come to hand.

Those students of European history will appreciate that these coins were produced during the 72-year reign of King Louis XIV, known as the Sun King as well as the builder of the palace at Versailles.

The coins on obverse have two Ls back to back with fleurs-de-lis to the left and right and beneath. The Inscription is LVD • XIIII • FR • ET • NAV • REX • 1711.

The reverse is dominated by the outline of a cross.

King Louis reigned until 1714 and France then was at a peak of world power.

Long Beach Expo President Cassi East said, “People will get to see this find firsthand at the Long Beach Expo.”

Indeed they will. I wsh I could be there. Unfortunately, travel budgets are not infinite.

If you are lucky enough to go see them, send me an email and let me know your reaction to the hoard.

The Long Beach show charges $8 admission for adults, and $4 for seniors or children 8-16. But you can go online to obtain free admission coupons. That is worth the effort. I’ll help.

Here is the link. Click “Get Passes” and enter the promo code EXPOPR.

The show opens at 10 a.m. Thursday and closes at 7 p.m. The same hours apply Friday. On Saturday the show closes two hours earlier at 5 p.m.

There you go. An interesting story as well as $8 savings. What can be better?