1779 Cook Courage and Perseverance Medal. Betts-555. Bronze, 38 mm. MS-63 (PCGS). 261.9 grains. A charming memorial medal struck to honor the lamented Captain Cook, who died in Hawaii in an interaction with the Hawaiians in 1779. The surfaces are glossy ruddy tan, a very attractive shade, with a more lustrous medium brown reverse that retains a few peeks of mint color. The well-executed three-quarter facing bust of Cook is fully struck up and bold. No significant marks or hairlines are noted, just two patches of surface verdigris above and below the word COURAGE on the reverse.<p><p>A genuinely rare medal, though perhaps not quite as rare as its more famous counterpart, Betts-554, which employs the same obverse with a reverse declaring Cook was "killd by the Indians at OWhyHee." Since 2000, we count public offerings of the LaRiviere II:2138 specimen, the Ford specimen (this medal), the lower grade example in our (Stacks) September 2009 Americana sale, two specimens sold at Baldwins in 2011 and 2013, and one specimen that has appeared in three different Kunker sales between 2018 and 2023. Just six pieces in a quarter century makes every opportunity to acquire one important. From the Richard Margolis Collection. Earlier from Fred Baldwin on October 22, 1965; our (Stacks) sale of the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection, Part XIV, May 2006, lot 480.
