(1584) Medal Betts-15, Raleigh Plantation, Thin MS(PCGS#541795)

November 2020 U.S. Coins Auction

拍卖行

Stack's Bowers

批号

4001

等级

VF30

价格

118,028

详细说明

Very Rare "Raleigh Plantation" Token Thin Planchet, Die Pair 1 Undated (ca. 1584) Raleigh Plantation Token. Betts-15. Die Pair 1. Brass. VF-30 (PCGS). 139.5 grains. 28.2 mm. 1.7 to 1.8 mm thick. A superb specimen of this iconic if enigmatic early issue, long associated with the abortive first attempts to establish an English settlement on the North Carolina coast decades before Jamestown. Contrasting deep olive fields and golden tan devices accentuate design elements that are in low relief but well detailed. Peripheral denticles are defined on the obverse at right and left, a bit longer at right. Denticles frame most of the left side of the reverse, with an area of softness present at the upper right above SOONE. Centers are both fairly crisp, and the eye appeal is superb for the issue. Die pair 1 is best identified by the position of the seated figure's forearm (touching the skull) and the rose thorn that points directly to the star below it. The Raleigh Plantation token has been pursued by American collectors for well over a century, though its connection to the North American colonies has always been tenuous at best. Betts (or his editors) wrote in 1894 that "its application to Raleigh or America is however extremely doubtful." That has dimmed none of the enthusiasm for this medal, for a few reasons. Its designs are charming, and its sentiment certainly fits most of the earliest English attempts at permanents settlements, from Roanoke Island to Bermuda to Jamestown. Its time period is right, and precious little among English medallic collectibles of this era seems at all evocative of this side of the Atlantic. For these reasons and more, collectors have long sought to include Betts-15 in their collections. Attempts to find nice examples are frustrated by the dearth of decent looking specimens; whoever was in mind as an audience when this medal was produced, they were not folks with fine mahogany cabinets. This one is both better looking than most and has a superior provenance to most. Provenance: From the E Pluribus Unum Collection. Earlier from our (Bowers and Merena's) sale of the Norweb Collection, Part III, November 1988, lot 3397. PCGS Population: 1; 0 finer. PCGS# 541795. Click here for certification details from PCGS. Image with the PCGS TrueView logo is obtained from and is subject to a license agreement with Collectors Universe, Inc. and its divisions PCGS and PSA.