Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-10-04
BURIED NEAR A PEAR TREE.
Coins of 1856 Brought to Light When
the Tree was UproOted in a storm.

COINS OF i 1856 Brought to Light When
the Tree was UprOOted in Storm.
where did you get those fancy sleeve
buttOns!" asked New York Tribune re-
porter Of gentleman in Delmonico's cafe
who was showing pair made out of large
gold coins.
'Why," said he, Il got them in Bor-
deaUX. They are double louis d'ors of
Louis WI, who was guillOtined in the
French revolution. They bear the date
17S6, and when l got them they were
absolutely uncirculated. suppose
numismatists would consider them a
great prize. | was in Bordeaux in 1873
on some business connected with
the claret of the Napa valley
in California. l had been asked to
take some bottles TO the French
experts of the wine business and have
their opinion on certain varieties of red
wine from the Zinfandel and Malvasia
grapes. There came a stormy day, and
plenty of old trees were blown down.
When l was taking my coffee after break
fast in a cafe near the opera house l
heard some officers talking Of a strange
discovery of an iron box filled with gold
pieces. l excused myself for .mingling in
their conversation and asked for particu-
lars, and was told that in a garden of a
house on the principal quay an old pear
tree had blown down during the storm.
The lady to whom the property belonged
sent tor two labOrers to dig out the root
intending to use it for fire wood and to
replace it by a young tree. The men
after digging for a time struck their spades
upon something hard, which proved to be
an iron box. The lady was sent for. and
the box, frightfully Tusted, was opened
with great difficulty. 1t was flled with
double louis d'ors to the value of 100000
francisco, 600. The officers gave me the
address of the lady, and called upon her
and asked permission to purchase two of
the pieces as a souvenir of my visit to
Bordeaux. She was extremely gracious,
and picked out for me two absolutely per-
feet. All of them were new. but many
had stuck together in cakes of ten and
twelve pieces, so that they were slightly
rubbed IN separating them.
''There was no question of the owner
ship of the pieces. Her grandfather had
been merchant of extensive dealings
with the West Indies, and had supplied
the court purveyors with tropical fruits.
cOnserveS and iqueurs. He foresaw the
coming revolutionary storm and sent his
family to England, intending to join them
as soon as he had made certain arrange
ments. These he never perfected, for a
member of the committee of safety called
upon HIM in company with a movable
guillotine, took him outside and had his
head in the basket before he could inter-
change a word with any one or send a
token to his family. When the latter
returned to France they naturally
sought for some trace of his
property. 1t was proved that he had
disposed Of his possessions in st. Lucie
and Martinique, but they could not find
what had become of the purchase money.
1t was natural to suppose that it had be-
come the prey of the committee of safety,
and in time the family accepted this view.
But it now appeared that when he re-
ceiyed the money, in despair of finding a
more suitable bank of deposit, he buried
his fortune at the root of the pear tree,
where it had remained until the fall of its
guardian disclosed its hiding place. OF
all the pieces there were no other dates
than 1875 and 1876. Some single louis
d'ors were in the mass, but the great ma
jOrity Of the pieces were double louis"