Intercolonial Wars (1745-1763), Betts 381-447

About This Coin

Covering Betts catalog numbers 381 through 447, this group of medals documents the fierce series of conflicts between European colonial powers that reshaped North America in the mid-eighteenth century — King George's War (1744-1748), the French and Indian War (1754-1763), and related engagements that pitted Britain, France, and Spain against one another on multiple continents. The medallic record from this period is remarkably rich, commemorating the siege of Louisbourg in 1745, the fall of Quebec in 1759, General Wolfe's death on the Plains of Abraham, and dozens of other battles, treaties, and political events that determined whether France or Britain would dominate the eastern half of the continent. European mints in London, Paris, and the Netherlands produced these medals to inform and celebrate — functioning as news media in an age before photography, bringing images of distant commanders and battle scenes to a public hungry for information about wars fought thousands of miles away. A notable auction result reached $180,000 in MS63 grade at Stack's Bowers, placing the rarest specimens in this group among the most valuable of all Betts medals. Compositions range from gold presentation strikes to common bronze and white metal issues, and the artistic quality varies from masterful neoclassical compositions by leading European engravers to cruder propaganda pieces produced quickly to capitalize on public interest. Collectors studying this period benefit from extensive scholarly literature connecting the medals to documented historical events, and condition standards should account for the fact that many surviving specimens were contemporary keepsakes subjected to considerable handling over the past 270 years.