(1701) Silver Medal Betts-89, Philip V

Coin Details

Auction Record

$3,960 AU Details 11-18-2020 Stack's Bowers

Description

This silver medal, Betts-89, commemorates Philip V and events of 1701, the opening year of the War of the Spanish Succession. The accession of the Bourbon Philip V to the Spanish throne in 1700, following the death of the last Habsburg King Charles II, triggered a European war that had enormous consequences for the Americas. France and Spain, now allied under Bourbon monarchs, faced a coalition led by England, the Dutch Republic, and Austria. The war would last until 1714 and result in significant territorial changes in the Americas, including the British acquisition of Gibraltar, Minorca, and parts of French Canada. The iconographic vocabulary of colonial medals drew heavily on classical mythology and allegory, with figures representing continents, rivers, virtues, and vices arranged in compositions that conveyed complex political messages. This medal documents the Spanish succession that reshaped colonial power dynamics.

Rarity Notes

Rare. Philip V medals relating to the War of Spanish Succession.

Cross References

Betts-89