1720 Medal Betts-146

Coin Details

Auction Record

$153 AU55BN 03-16-2018 eBay

Description

This 1720 medal, Betts-146, documents events related to French colonial activities in 1720. The medal is part of the broader series of pieces produced during and around the Mississippi Bubble period, when French colonial affairs attracted unprecedented public attention due to John Law's financial scheme. Even after the bubble's collapse, French colonial development continued in Louisiana, the Caribbean, and Canada, supported by a reorganized Company of the Indies that replaced Law's discredited Mississippi Company. 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. The medal provides a numismatic record of French colonial ambitions during a turbulent period in French financial history.

Rarity Notes

Rare. French colonial medal from the Mississippi Bubble era.

Cross References

Betts-146