Auction Name: 2026 January 14 - 17 FUN US Coins Signature® Auction

Lot Number: 3018

Shortcut to Lot: HA.com/1390*3018

1631 Medal Capture of Pernambuco, Silver, Betts-30, MS62 PCGS. 66.3 mm, 2 mm thick, 67.9 gm. Medal turn. By A.D. Wilge. Generally frosty silver surfaces and strong detail assure great visual appeal, with slight microporosity hardly detectable. The obverse depicts an oval framed bust of Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange, flanked by Mars and Victory under Latin tribute, "He Has Founded a Golden Age." On the reverse, a Dutch lion is flanked by armored Prudence and Constancy, with Hebrew JEHOVAH in clouds above. The bottom of each side displays important battles: 's-Hertogenbosch (Den Bosch, 1629) on the obverse, and on the reverse, Grol (a.k.a. Groenlo, 1627), Sylver Vloot (1628), Pernambuco (1630), and Wesel (1629). This medal commemorates, as Betts said, "the capture of Pernambuco in Brazil by the Spanish, and the other victories named, by reason of which the Dutch considered themselves masters not only of Brazil, but all of America." The Sylver Vloot portrayal is another such important American victory, as it refers to Dutch Admiral Pieter Heyn's capture of the Spanish silver fleet at Matanzas Bay, Cuba, a victory that is celebrated on multiple other Betts medals.
Ex: Leonard Finn (12/1983); The John W. Adams Collection (Heritage, 1/2013), lot 3581.
From The Costa Family Collection, Part II.

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