1702 American Treasure Captured at Vigo Medal. Betts-99. Silver. About Uncirculated, repaired. (PCGS)

44.1 mm. 603.0 grains. Plain edge. A rarity among the medals commemorating the Battle of Vigo Bay, and one of the most imposing and aesthetically pleasing medals from that popular series as well. The lustrous and nicely reflective fields show pale blue, violet-rose, and attractive gold toning over light silver gray surfaces. A light rim bruise is seen at 3:00 on the reverse, and an old but deep mark on the jawline of Queen Anne shows some smoothing, an attempt to diminish it. The overall visual appeal is excellent, and the boldness of the distinctive reverse device - showing Hercules holding down a sea serpent while reclaiming the Golden Fleece from a French centurion - is particularly impressively rendered. While several of the Vigo medals are common, this one isn't. Neither LaRiviere nor Adams, who pursued the medals of this era relentlessly, ever got one. If the rarity of this medal isn't enough to attract a collector, the reverse types of this medal are the most evocative of the series, with Hercules throttling a soldier who grasps the Golden Fleece surrounded by a legend Betts translates as "Not by deceit or stratagem, but by open war." The bottling up of the Spanish fleet at Vigo, and the British capture of the riches that were grounded, is one of the most fascinating chapters in this long conflict, one that manifests in many interesting ways across numismatics. This medal is near the pinnacle of the many Vigo commemorations.

From the E Pluribus Unum Collection. Earlier from Baldwin's sale of April 5, 1994, lot 81; John W. Adams Collection; our (Stack's) sale of the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection, Part XIII, January 2006, lot 812.