Description
This sterling silver coin features the playing card’s rectangular shape and is embellished with colour and selective gold plating along its edge—the first time these two stunning effects have been combined in this manner. Another unique feature of this coin is its “missing” corners. They reflect the practice of clipping cards in order to produce lower denominations. It is the third in this fascinating series.
There was a time when playing cards were valued like regular bank notes—and this Ten of Spades from 18th-century New France was one of them; it was also a way for authorities to keep their colony working despite chronic coin shortages. Historians believe the Ten of Spades was valued at forty livres.
