William of Orange By Pieter van Abeele, c. 1654-58. Silver, 66.4 mm Ø, 62.8 g Obverse: Bust of William facing three quarters to right, wearing Spanish collar and armor. Around, WILHELMVS D · G · PRINC · AVRAI · COM · NASS · EC (William, by the Grace of God, Prince of Orange, Count of Nassau). Beneath the bust, signed P V A · F · . Reverse: William, holding baton, seated between two councillors. Around, BELGICA LIBERTAS VIGVIT VIRTVTE WILHELMI (Dutch Liberty Strengthened by the Vigor of Prince William). Medal made in memory of William of Orange (1533-1584), also known as William the Silent, the leader in the Dutch Revolt against Spanish Habsburg rule. The reverse commemorates when William was granted supreme state authority in 1575, giving him the ability to quickly make important decisions for the States. The medal is hollow, consisting of two shells joined with a rim. References: Van Loon 1732-37, vol. 1, p. 203; (Van Loon 2021, no. 1575.1); Frederiks 1943, p. 8, no. 5/5a
Very nice. Do you know when the medal was struck? Very interesting that it's a shell and not solid. Bruce
Probably the early part of the second half of the 17th century. This method of manufacture - using two shells to create a hollow medal - was a distinctive technique used during the Dutch Golden Age. (It also allows for a nice large silver medal without actually needing all of the silver that a solid medal would require.)
Here's a couple of my shell coins, brothel Tokens from France WWII! I'd love to own a shell Silver Medal, my guess is those are quite rare!
I didn't realize that shells went that far back. A lot of them were used in the US as advertising cards during the 1870s and 1880s. These are the only ones that I'm familiar with so it's good to learn more about them. Bruce
Awesome medal--I love William "The Silent" stuff. He's a pretty interesting figure. Fun fact: he was the first head of state executed by handgun. I have that event (plus the failed assassination) depicted on some of the rechenpfennig tokens from that era.
I do believe that the assassination was successful: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_the_Silent#Assassination
