(1687) Silver Medal Betts-67, St. Domingo

Coin Details

Auction Record

$6,000 MS61 08-24-2023 Stack's Bowers

Description

This silver medal, Betts-67, commemorates events at St. Domingo around 1687. The island of Hispaniola, where Santo Domingo was located, was one of the oldest European settlements in the Americas and a constant focal point of colonial rivalry. By the 1680s, France had established a growing colony on the western portion of the island (Saint-Domingue, later Haiti), while Spain controlled the eastern portion. This medal documents the complex political and military situation on Hispaniola during a period of French expansion that would eventually make Saint-Domingue the richest colony in the Caribbean and one of the most profitable European possessions anywhere in the world. The survival rate of colonial-era medals varies dramatically by material and original production quantity, with gold presentations being the rarest and bronze issues struck in larger quantities being relatively more available to collectors.

Rarity Notes

Rare. Hispaniola colonial medals from the 1680s are scarce.

Cross References

Betts-67