1676 Bronze Medal Betts-50, Ile de Cayenne

Coin Details

Auction Record

$1,525 MS62BN 03-09-2019 eBay

Description

This 1676 bronze medal, Betts-50, commemorates events at Ile de Cayenne (present-day French Guiana) during the Franco-Dutch War. Cayenne was a French colony on the northeastern coast of South America that had been contested between French, Dutch, English, and Portuguese forces since the early seventeenth century. The 1676 medal documents military operations during a period of intense colonial rivalry in the Guiana region, where European powers competed for control of tropical territories rich in sugar, spices, and other valuable commodities. Colonial medals served multiple functions simultaneously: as propaganda tools promoting imperial policy, as diplomatic gifts establishing relationships with indigenous peoples and rival powers, and as commemorative art preserving historical memory. French Guiana would eventually become one of France's most enduring colonial possessions, remaining under French sovereignty to the present day.

Rarity Notes

Rare. South American colonial medals from the 1670s are scarce in all compositions.

Cross References

Betts-50