Betts-3
1559 Philip II, King of the New World, Peace of Cambrai Medal
Catalog Reference
Boerner-685
Van Loon I, 27
Engraver: Giovanni Paolo Poggini
Composition:
Size: Diameters vary based on composition:
Weight: Weights vary based on composition:
The magic words HISPAN ET NOVA ORBIS OCCIDVI REX earned this medal a place in the Betts series. The obverse legend pronounces Phillip II king of Spain and the "new Western world," a sentiment displayed on a small series of Betts numbers at the beginning of the book. This particular variety was struck to mark the Treaty of Cambrai, marking the end of decades of conflict between France and Spain. Spain turned boldly westward in the century that followed, building up their Latin American dominions and becoming a world power. Any medal collection that purports to tell the history of America must begin in the decades before settlement, when lone ships, missions, and explorers made solitary inroads into and glancing blows against the body of a continent.
The reverse of the medal is a classical allusion to the Roman ritual of closing the temple to proclaim the return of peace. This Peace ushered in the consolidation of what Spanish numismatists extol as "the greatest empire the world had known," under the Spanish crown of the son of Charles V. Florentine native Giovanni Poggini (1518-1582) began his Spanish service by overhauling the Dutch provincial coinages struck under Philip II. Relocating to Madrid, he went on to create numerous high relief medals of Philip and the royal family that occupy three pages in Leonard Forrer's Biographical Dictionary of Medallists. The Peace of Cambrai Medal is among his most acclaimed works.
 39.3 mm 23.50 grams |  37.8 to 38.8 mm 20.20 to 26.70 grams (Thin Planchet), 39.0 grams (Thick Planchet) |  40.4 to 43.9 mm 36.86 to 42.70 grams |
 38.8 mm 18.54 grams |
Below is the translation of the inscriptions. It is important to note that new dies were eventually made for this medal. The later dies use the spelling of HISPAN instead of HISPANIAR. A seperate variety excludes J • PAVL • POG • F • from the neck line on the obverse.
"PHILIPPVS HISPANIAR ET NOVI ORBIS OCCIDVI REX | J PAVL POG F" translates to "Philip, King of Spain and of the New Western World"
"PACE TERRA MARIQ COMPOSITA | MDLIX" translates to "Peace Arranged on Land and Sea"
