Don't know where to start on this 1588 dated piece

ZoidMeister

I was drawn in by the design. Ignore the "slab", that's a generic insert I use to help photograph pieces. It really helps my camera establish a neutral white balance.

I know nothing much about this other than it's huge (50.5mm), it's heavy (about 49g), and "rings" when set on my desk.

Is this familiar to anyone? Eternal thanks for any information.

Z
.

.

WilliamF

That's a cool piece! It appears to be a medal/coin commemorating the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588,
The latin on it means: "He blew and they were scattered", no doubt a reference to the circumstances of the last naval battle between the English fleet and the Spanish Armada in which there were strong winds in favor of England and many ships in the Spanish fleet were disbanded and scattered, allowing for a more thorough defeat.

ZoidMeister

@WilliamF said:
That's a cool piece! It appears to be a medal/coin commemorating the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588,
The latin on it means: "He blew and they were scattered", no doubt a reference to the circumstances of the last naval battle between the English fleet and the Spanish Armada in which there were strong winds in favor of England and many ships in the Spanish fleet were disbanded and scattered, allowing for a more thorough defeat.

.
Great info, many thanks for the translation 👍!

Z

Iosephus

IMO, the details don't look quite right, appearing engraved rather than struck. Compare against these examples:
British Museum
Spink Auction
CNG Sale

ZoidMeister

@Iosephus said:
IMO, the details don't look quite right, appearing engraved rather than struck. Compare against these examples:
British Museum
Spink Auction
CNG Sale

.

Appreciate the links. That helps a lot. I'm pretty sure this is struck. It "rings" as a large silver coin should when set on my desk. I need to study the photos on your links closely.

Z

Z

Unknown

This content has been removed.

TomB

Looks like a modern reproduction to me.

TwoKopeiki

It's a reproduction. The die work is missing a lot of finer details (smaller clouds on the obverse; cannon fire, land buildings, finer ships details on the reverse). Looking at the authentic examples makes you appreciate the art of creating medallic dies. The height of the relief is, what, a couple of millimeters? But that space is used by the engraver to show transitions, indicate background/foreground features, and add volume so that the design doesn't look flat and blocky.

ZoidMeister

@TwoKopeiki said:
It's a reproduction. The die work is missing a lot of finer details (smaller clouds on the obverse; cannon fire, land buildings, finer ships details on the reverse). Looking at the authentic examples makes you appreciate the art of creating medallic dies. The height of the relief is, what, a couple of millimeters? But that space is used by the engraver to show transitions, indicate background/foreground features, and add volume so that the design doesn't look flat and blocky.

.

Great eye! I purchased it as a restrike but had no idea where to start researching the original coin / medal it was based upon. The seller described it as an "Anglo-Hispanic war re-strike big coin medal with Hebrew letters."

I would still like to discover additional information on who created this restrike, when, and what the metallic composition is. If this was created in the 1970's or earlier, it has a bit of historic significance in it's own right methinks.

From the sellers photos, I guessed it was probably around 35mm to 38mm. Imagine my surprise when it came in at 51mm weighing 48.4g, and much more detail than his fuzzy photos showed. I am thinking this is at least coin silver (.900). It has a distinctive "ring" to it.

I really appreciate everyone's input in helping me identify the original medal this is based upon. At least now I know what to search for.

Z
.

.

@TomB said:
Looks like a modern reproduction to me.

@Iosephus said:
IMO, the details don't look quite right, appearing engraved rather than struck. Compare against these examples:
British Museum
Spink Auction
CNG Sale

@hvellente said:
Also listed over on Numista:

https://en.numista.com/catalogue/exonumia155932.html

And Numista gives another catalog reference: Eimer# 57

https://en.numista.com/catalogue/catalogue.php?id=289

@WilliamF said:
That's a cool piece! It appears to be a medal/coin commemorating the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588,
The latin on it means: "He blew and they were scattered", no doubt a reference to the circumstances of the last naval battle between the English fleet and the Spanish Armada in which there were strong winds in favor of England and many ships in the Spanish fleet were disbanded and scattered, allowing for a more thorough defeat.