^Lot 375 Mexico City, Mexico, pillar 8 reales, Philip V, 1741MF, AU details / sea salvaged / St. Geran (1744)

Mexico City, Mexico, pillar 8 reales, Philip V, 1741MF, AU details / sea salvaged / St. Geran (1744), ex-Glendining (1968). KM-103; Cal-1458. 26.97 grams. Bold strike with thick rims, deeply toned and basically uncorroded, with a few tiny marks only. The story of the St. Geran's sinking includes the tragic death of a young French lady traveling back from France to idyllic Mauritius (then known as Ile de France) along with her betrothed, a crew member, her death ostensibly due to a prudish refusal to remove her clothing to keep from drowning, tragically choosing modesty over survival. In 1788 this anecdote became the core of the best-selling novel Paul et Virginie, by the French author Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, which also extolled the virtues of living harmoniously on an island without the constraints of social class divisions. NGC #5964197-001 (Shipwreck Blue Label). From the Glendining (London) auction of February 1968 (lot 320), with photo certificate. Recovered from: St. Geran, sunk in 1744 off Mauritius, east of Africa