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Shakespeare and Precious Stones
weighing' carats (55.23 metric carats), ac-
quired by James I from Nicholas Harley de Sancy, in 1604, for 506,000 crowns. This is also stated to have belonged to Charles the Bold. In 1657 it was redeemed by Cardinal Mazarin, after having been pledged for a loan by Queen Henrietta Maria, and at Mazarin's death, in 1661, was bequeathed, with his other diamonds, to the French Crown. After passing through many vicissitudes, it has recently come into the possession of Baron Astor of Hever (William Waldorf Astor).
There is a possibility that the Florentine diamond ofcarats (137.27 metric carats) was already owned by the grand-ducal house of Tuscany before Shakespeare's death, but the earliest notice of it appears to be that given by Fermental, a French traveller, who saw it in Florence in 1630. The other great diamonds of former days are of more recent date. The Regent ofcarats (140.64 metric carats), found in India about 1700, was acquired by the Duke of Orleans in 1717; the Orloff (old carats = 199.73 metric carats) was bought by Prince Orloff for Catherine II, in 1775, for 1,400,000 Dutch florins, or about $560,000. The famous Koh-i-nur, weighingcarats (191.1 metric
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