Defeat of the Spanish Armada

397, Lot: 857. Estimate $750. Sold for $1200. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

TUDOR. Elizabeth I. 1558-1603. Cast AR Medal (49mm, 19.02 g, 12h). The Defeat of the Spanish Armada. By G van Bijlaer. Dated 1588. DVRVM EST CONTRA STIMVLOS CALCITRARE (It is hard to kick against the pricks [Acts ix.5]), Philip II and other Catholics, blindfolded and seated on spiked floor; above, O COECAS HOMINVM MENTES/ O PECTORA COECA (Oh! The minds and hearts of men) / TV DEVS MAGNVS ET MAGNA FACIS TV SOLVS DEVS (Thou, god, art great and doest wondrous things; thou art God alone [Psalms lxxxvi/10]), capsizing and sinking Spanish ships; above, VENI VIDE VIVE/ 1588 (Come, see, live). MI 144/111; Eimer 56. Good VF, toned, tooled and chased, removed from mount. Very rare.

From the J. Eric Engstrom Collection, purchased from H.J. Cooper, November 1965.