1559 Bronze Medal Betts-5

Coin Details

Auction Record

$193 MS64BN 02-22-2023 eBay

Description

This 1559 bronze medal, cataloged as Betts-5, commemorates the attempted French colonization of Brazil under Nicolas Durand de Villegagnon. Struck during the reign of Henri II, the medal documents France's short-lived Antarctic France colony at Guanabara Bay near present-day Rio de Janeiro, established in 1555. Villegagnon, a Knight of Malta, led approximately 600 colonists but the settlement was plagued by religious disputes between Catholics and Huguenots and was destroyed by the Portuguese in 1560. The medal is among the earliest numismatic records of European colonial ambitions in the Americas and one of the first pieces in Betts' landmark 1894 reference. As an early Renaissance medal related to New World colonization, it holds great importance for collectors of colonial Americana and French historical medals.

Rarity Notes

Extremely rare. One of the earliest medals in the Betts catalog.

Cross References

Betts-5