(1697) AE Medal Betts-83, Cartagena Taken, BN MS(PCGS#613889)

August 2023 Global Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

拍卖行

Stack's Bowers

批号

8023

等级

MS65BN

价格

6,990

详细说明

1697 Cartagena Captured Medal. Betts-83. Copper, 41.2 mm. MS-65 BN (PCGS). 402.9 grains. Rich chocolate brown with superlative luster and some hints of mint color around the peripheral legends. A hairline planchet crack is seen at the obverse rim near LU of LUDOVICUS and below the I of DIREPTI on the reverse. Aside from a very light abrasion off the chin in the right obverse field and a small toning spot inside the inner circle on the left side of the reverse, this piece is something close to perfectly preserved. The taking of the fortified city of Cartagena by a fleet of French privateers in April-May 1697 was not only an enormous financial blow to Spain’s New World colonies, but also a massive embarrassment that exposed its weak military defenses and toothless political infrastructure. The French carried away more than 20 million pesos in stolen booty, but only after huge sums of money allocated for the defense of Cartagena were apparently embezzled or wasted. The city’s multi-layer fortifications were weakly held and folded quickly, even with advance notice of the invading fleet and its intentions. Betts lists five different varieties of Cartagena Captured medals. Two of them use this classically inspired design. Provenance: From the Sydney F. Martin Collection. Earlier from A.H. Baldwin & Co., June 1969; our (Stack’s) sale of the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection, Part XIII, January 2006, lot 781. To view supplemental information and all items from the Sydney F. Martin Collection, click here. PCGS# 613889.