^Lot 395 MEXICO, Mexico City, pillar 8 reales, Philip V, 1739 MF.

MEXICO, Mexico City, pillar 8 reales, Philip V, 1739 MF. Yonaka-M8.39; KM-103; Cal-1453. 24.11 grams. Bold AU details despite surface corrosion (pillars side more affected than the shield side), silvery from cleaning, scarce and famous provenance. 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 Île 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. Pedigreed to the Steve Valentine Collection, with original certificate from the salvor/conservator. Recovered from: St. Geran, sunk in 1744 off Mauritius in the Indian Ocean