1687 Recovery of Treasure, St. Domingo Medal. Betts-67. Silver. MS-62 (NGC). 54 mm. An attractive example of the type with blushes of gold and russet peripheral toning to surfaces that retain considerable areas of brilliance. Reflective fields contrast with satiny design elements, the latter near-fully rendered with razor sharp detail. Wispy handling marks do little more than define the grade as none of sizeable enough to be worthy of individual attention.<p>Obverse shows James II of England and Mary of Modena in jugate, while the reverse depicts a British warship on the high seas with three men in a smaller boat hoisting remains of the <em>Nuestra Sonora de la Concepcion</em> with the legends SEMPER TIBI PENDEAT HAMUS, from Ovid meaning "Let thy hook always hang," and NAVRATA REPERTA, or "Shipwreck discovered," with the date 1687. This refers to perhaps the most famous Spanish treasure salvage of all time before the days of Mel Fisher and Kip Wagner, that of the <em>Concepcion</em> by Sir William Phipps (sometimes spelled Phips) off the coast of Hispaniola at what became known as "Silver Shoals." According to Betts, specimens of this medal were "presented to officers and promoters of Sir Wm. Phipps expedition" and may have been, like the medals of Piet Heyn, struck from silver taken from the recovered wreck. According to shipwreck researcher Thomas Sebring, Phipps recovered no less than 37,538 Spanish colonial 8 reales in addition to nearly 28,000 pounds of silver ingots. This beautiful medal is a magnificent connection to that historic shipwreck and recovery effort that led to the rise and fall of Phipps as a colonial official in Massachusetts.<p>Phipps was born in the territory now comprising Maine and worked as a ships carpenter and merchant ship captain. Fascinated by the story of the <em>Concepcions</em> loss in shallow reefs on November 2, 1641, Phipps found backing for an expedition to salvage the wreck with the wealthy Duke of Albemarle, Christopher Monck. Phipps and his crew recovered vast amounts of the lost Spanish treasure, including more than 25 pounds of gold in addition to the silver noted above. Phipps was awarded a large part of the Spanish treasure, with published reports ranging from 11,000 to 20,000 pound sterling, and Monck also profited from his investment to the tune of 90,000 pound sterling according to Betts. Phipps was also knighted and named provost-marshal of New England, where he led the failed expedition from Boston to capture Quebec. He became governor of Massachusetts in 1692 and he vigorously pursued the witchcraft trials until his own wife was accused, after which the mania soon abated. His questionable conduct led to calls for hearings in London in 1694, but he died before they took place.<p>The <em>Concepcion</em>, not to be confused with a ship of identical name that sunk near the Philippines, was further salvaged in the modern era. Jacques Cousteau pursued the wreck in the late 1960s, but the new mother lode was not discovered until 1978 after the log written by one of Phipps officers was located in a tiny museum in England. Sixty thousand more coins were found by this expedition. A full account is given in Sebrings <em>Treasure Tales: Shipwrecks and Salvage</em>.<p>
