Important British and World Coins

Dalzell, a France, Directoire, 5 Francs, AN 6a [1797-8], Paris, rev. countermarked payable at dalzell farm, six-petalled rosette, 24.58g/6h (Manville 20, and p.53, this coin listed; D 74; Seaby ST 22). Coin mediocre and date figures barely discernable, countermark about fine (£400-500)

Provenance:
J. Meili Collection
Glendining Auction, 12 March 1970, lot 223 (part)
W. Allen Collection, Spink Auction 34, 14-15 March 1984, lot 35.

The issuer was Archibald James Hamilton (1793-1834), who served as a Lieutenant in the 4th Dragoons in the Peninsula and with the Royal Scots Greys at Waterloo before retiring from the army on grounds of ill-health in 1816. In retirement he successfully farmed the Dalzell estates, paying workers with suitably countermarked 5-franc pieces he brought home from France in 1816