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Commemorating the Recovery of Nuestra Señora de la Concepción
By William Phips - Early Treasure Hunter
Provost Marshall General of the Dominion of New England

403798. Sold For $4500

STUART. James II, with Mary. 1685-1688. AR Medal (55mm, 66.77 g, 12h). Spanish Wreck Recovered by William Phips. By G. Bower. Dated 1687. · IACOBVS · II · ET · MARIA · D · G · MAG · BRI · FRAN · ET · HIB · REX · ET · REGINA ·, jugate draped busts of James, laureate and armored, and Mary right / SEMPER TIBI PENDEAT HAMUS · (always let your hook be hanging, –adapted from Ovid), ship under sail left on sea; in foreground, men in rowboats salvaging for wreckage; in two lines in exergue, NAVFRAGA REPERTA/1687 (shipwreck recovered). MI 619/33; Eimer 285; Betts 67. EF, toned. Rare.


William Phips was an important figure in the early history of North America. Born in Massachusetts Bay Colony, as a child he apprenticed in carpentry and shipbuilding, eventually establishing a shipyard to produce small craft and merchant vessels. This first yard was destroyed during King Philip’s war, leading Phips to found a second in Boston. However, the merchant apparently found his chosen craft too dull and soon turned his eye towards ‘treasure hunting.’

Phips soon received a grant from the King providing him with a ship and initial funding for his Caribbean adventure in 1682. This first trip appears to have been a modest success and was followed by a second voyage in 1683, which did not fare as well and recovered only a few hundred pounds worth of treasure. Yet it was his third trip that would prove to be his greatest success. Phips, now buoyed by a number of investors, including the Crown, set sail for the New World in 1687 with two ships: the James and Mary and the Henry of London. There, on the Silver Bank north of what is now the Dominican Republic, the company found their boon: the Nuestra Señora de la Concepción, a Spanish galleon sunk in 1641. More than £200,000 worth of silver and gold was recovered from this wreck, greatly enriching Phips and his investors, including the Duke of Albemarle.

The success of the expedition not only resulted in an increase in wealth for Phips’ but a boost to his social status as well. He was appointed Provost Marshall General of the Dominion of New England, a post which saw him involved in numerous military expeditions in the British Colonies, including the Port Royal and the Quebec expeditions, as well as in contact with several important political figures in Boston, such as Cotton Mather. His relationship with the powerful preacher later led to Phips being named the first royal governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay. Phips’ tenure as governor was preoccupied both with external conflicts with natives and the internal strife of the Salem witch trials.