Medals of the Early Colonial Period and the European Heritage, Capture of the Spanish Treasure Fleet by Piet Heyn in Matanzas Bay, Cuba, 1628, a silver medal by L. van Teylingen, map of the Western Hemisphere centred on the Caribbean and uniquely showing California as an island, rev. panorama of the naval action and the capturing of the fleet, legend around and in 7 lines below, 66mm, 83.82g (van Loon II, 171.2; KPK 595; Roovers 118; Betts 23; MH 515). Extremely fine with most attractive olive tone, very rare £6,000-8,000

Provenance: Laurens Schulman Auction 12 (Bussum), 18 April 1994, lot 934, and with an unidentified 19th century Dutch collector’s ticket.

California first appeared, as an island, in an atlas of 1625 and this medal is the first and only one to represent it thus. There was not much of a battle and after a few musket volleys the Spanish surrendered. Hein captured treasure to the value of 11,509,524 gulden. Sold with details of two other specimens to have appeared at auction in the last 15 years