Archives International Auctions Sale 66 April 23, 2021 U.S., Chinese & Worldwide Banknotes, Scripophily, Historic Financial Ephemera and Security Printing Ephemera

Archives International Auctions - Sale 66 52 April 23, 2021 Archives International Auctions www.archivesinternational.com 372 372 Banque de France, 1979 High Grade Issue Banknote. France, 1979, 50 Francs, P-152a, De La Tour portrait on right, Signatures of Strohl - Bouchet - Tronche, S/N J.16 730545, PMG graded Superb Gem Uncirculated 67 EPQ. Only 3 notes grade higher out of 28 graded in the PMG census. ��������������������������������������������������������� Est. $160-280 373 373 Chambre de Commerce d’Amiens. 1914. Issued Emergency Scrip Note. Ville D’Amiens, France. 1914. 2 Francs, P-NL, issued banknote, low s/n 00326, local bon scrip issue, VG to Fine. (From the Allen Berk Collection) ���������������������� Est. $130-260 374 374 French Heredity Annuities Document from 1761 Granted by French King Louis XVI. France, 1761. Outer cover is printed in paper. Interior is the agreement printed on vellum. Multiple-page document in French regarding the payment of hereditary annuities granted by the French King Louis XVI and Parliament, which goes over terms and policies in great detail. Louis XVI was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as Citizen Louis Capet during the four months just before he was executed by guillotine. Also mentioned in the text is Joseph Micault d’Harvelay, who was a Royal Treasury Guard and State Councilor at the time of the document. The subject of the document seems to be Marquis Etienne Auguste Baude, who was also a knight in the Royal Army. Fascinating financial piece of pre-Revolutionary France history, unique and rare. ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Est. $450-750 375 375 Direction de Tonnerre, 1779 Chevalier d’Eon Payment Document in French Paris, France, 1779. Typeset and handwritten document in French. Black stamp on back. Fine-VF condition. Document from the town of Tonnerre, in which the Chevalier d’Éon provided a payment owed. The Chevalier d’Éon mentioned in the document is Charles-Geneviève-Louis-Auguste-André-Timothée d’Eon de Beaumont (5 October 1728 – 21 May 1810), a French diplomat, spy, and soldier. He was born in Tonnerre into a minor aristocratic family, and later fought in the Seven Years’ War. In 1756, he joined the secret network of spies called the Secret du Roi (King’s Secret) employed by King Louis XV without the knowledge of his government, and d’Eon worked as a spy while in Russia and England. According to contemporary accounts, d’Eon had androgynous physical characteristics and natural abilities as a mimic and a spy. D’Eon appeared publicly as a man and pursued masculine occupations for 49 years, although during that time he supposedly infiltrated the court of Empress Elizabeth of Russia by presenting as a woman (an anecdote that is likely apocryphal). After a stint as a Captain in the French Dragoons, he was sent to London as a diplomat. He embraced London life and continued to spy for the King before falling out with a superior. D’Eon refused to return to France, and afterward claimed that Louis XV had instructed him to disguise himself as a woman and to hide in the city. There had long been rumors in both Britain and France that the Chevalier was a woman, which subsequently developed into intrusive public interest. Bookmakers in London even took odds on whether he was a woman or a man. Eventually, in need of money, he told a French diplomat, Pierre Beaumarchais, in 1775 that he was really a woman. Believing this, Beaumarchais managed to get him a pension, but d’Eon was ordered to return to France wearing women’s dress. From 1777 on, the Chevalier began to permanently present as a woman. She spent some time at her family estate in Tonnerre due to a forced retirement, and she later returned to London in 1785. In 1792 her family’s properties in Tonnerre were confiscated by the French revolutionary government. Despite her famous and remarkable life, d’Eon died in poverty in 1810 at the age of 81. D’Eon’s body was buried in the churchyard of St Pancras Old Church, and any remaining possessions were sold by Christie’s in 1813. D’Eon’s grave is listed on the Burdett-Coutts Memorial there as one of the important graves lost. Fascinating piece of history from a groundbreaking figure. ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Est. $300-450 376 376 Election deTonnerre, 1783 Chevalier d’Eon Payment Document in French France, 1783. Typeset and handwritten document in French. Black with stamp at top center. Fine-VF condition. Document from the French town of Tonnerre, in which the Chevalier d’Éon provided a payment owed. The Chevalier d’Éon mentioned in the document is Charles-Geneviève-Louis-Auguste-André-Timothée d’Eon de Beaumont (5 October 1728 – 21 May 1810), a French diplomat, spy, and soldier. He was born in Tonnerre into a minor aristocratic family, and later fought in the Seven Years’ War. In 1756, he joined the secret network of spies called the Secret du Roi (King’s Secret) employed by King Louis XV without the knowledge of his government, and d’Eon worked as a spy while in Russia and England. According to contemporary accounts, d’Eon had androgynous physical characteristics and natural abilities as a mimic and a spy. D’Eon appeared publicly as a man and pursued masculine occupations for 49 years, although during that time he supposedly infiltrated the court of Empress Elizabeth of Russia by presenting as a woman (an anecdote that is likely apocryphal). After a stint as a Captain in the French Dragoons, he was sent to London as a diplomat. He embraced London life and continued to spy for the King before falling out with a superior. D’Eon refused to return to France, and afterward claimed that Louis XV had instructed him to disguise himself as a woman and to hide in the city. There had long been rumors in both Britain and France that the Chevalier was a woman, which subsequently developed into intrusive public interest. Bookmakers in London even took odds on whether he was a woman or a man. Eventually, in need of money, he told a French diplomat, Pierre Beaumarchais, in 1775 that he was really a woman. Believing this, Beaumarchais managed to get him a pension, but d’Eon was ordered to return to France wearing women’s dress. From 1777 on, the Chevalier began to permanently present as a woman. She spent some time at her family estate in Tonnerre due to a forced retirement, and she later returned to London in 1785. In 1792 her family’s properties in Tonnerre were confiscated by the French revolutionary government. Despite her famous and remarkable life, d’Eon died in poverty in 1810 at the age of 81. D’Eon’s body was buried in the churchyard of St Pancras Old Church, and any remaining possessions were sold by Christie’s in 1813. D’Eon’s grave is listed on the Burdett-Coutts Memorial there as one of the important graves lost. Fascinating piece of history from a groundbreaking figure. ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Est. $300-450