1778-1779 (ca. 1780) Rhode Island Ship Medal. Betts-563, W-1740var. Wreath Below Ship. Silvered. EF-45 (PCGS). This is the only silvered Rhode Island Ship Medal certified by PCGS, and one of the few examples your cataloger can ever recall seeing. Breen mentioned that this variety is "occasionally silvered," but they are encountered rarely. The silvering is very nearly intact here, worn through to brown on high points of devices and legends but complete in the fields. The island side is fairly lustrous, while the ship side shows some bubbling and granularity from the composition. Old scratches are well hidden below the ship and in the upper left field beneath AALS FLAG. The eye appeal is good, and no significant impacts are seen. PCGS# 575. From the Sydney F. Martin Collection. Earlier from eBay, May 2015.
