1781 Wolter Jan Gerrit Bentinck Memorial / Battle of Doggersbank Medal. Betts-587, Van Loon Supp., 565. Silver. MS-64 PL (NGC). 44.5 mm. A challenging type offered in exceptional Choice Mint State preservation. Iridescent olive-apricot toning is boldest around the obverse periphery, the overall appearance largely one of brilliant silver-gray. Prooflike fields support satiny, smartly impressed design elements, the entire package free of all but a few wispy handling marks that are easily forgiven. Betts-587 is a superb medallic memorial to one of the highest ranking casualties of the 1781 Battle of Doggersbank, the captain of the ship Batavier</em>, who was injured by a cannonball during the battle and later died of his wounds. The dies by Johann Georg Holtzhey, the leading Dutch medalist of his generation, show a wealth of fine detail.John Adams wrote to Congress from Amsterdam on August 18, 1781, to report on the casualties of the Battle of Doggersbank, a week before Baron Bentinck died of his wounds. Bentinck was elevated in rank to rear admiral before his death, and he finally perished on August 24. This medal was struck shortly thereafter. Today, Betts-587 is significantly more difficult to find than several of the other Doggersbank medals. A fitting tribute to a hero of the Fourth Angle-Dutch War, a contemporaneous conflict to the American Revolutionary War.
