(1745) Bronze Medal Betts-381, Lima Treasure

Coin Details

Auction Record

$9,600 MS64BN 08-24-2023 Stack's Bowers

Description

This bronze medal, Betts-381, commemorates the Lima Treasure around 1745. The Lima treasure connection relates to Spanish colonial wealth from Peru that was targeted by British naval forces during the War of Jenkins' Ear. Lima, as the capital of the Viceroyalty of Peru, was the administrative center for the richest silver-producing region in the world. Treasure from Peruvian mines, collected at Lima and shipped via the Pacific coast to Panama and then across to the Caribbean, was a constant target for British privateers and naval forces. Collectors have pursued Betts medals since the nineteenth century, when numismatists first recognized these pieces as a coherent body of historical documentation worthy of systematic study and cataloging. The medal documents the British obsession with intercepting Spanish colonial treasure that drove much of the naval strategy during the war.

Rarity Notes

Rare. Lima treasure medal from the War of Jenkins Ear period.

Cross References

Betts-381