Roma Numismatics Ltd
E-Sale 83 6 May 2021
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Canada, Hudson's Bay Company 300th Anniversary Æ Medal. Dually dated 1670/1970. • HUDSON'S • BAY • COMPANY, coat-of-arms with conjoined dates below / COMPAGNIE • DE LA • BAIE • D'HUDSON, the ketch 'Nonsuch' under full sail to right, NONSUCH in upper right field. 34.34g, 45mm, 12h.
Extremely Fine; attractive patina.
From the collection of the late Eduard Winkler.
In 1668 the ketch 'Nonsuch' left London in company with a second vessel, the 'Eaglet', on a speculative fur-trading voyage to Hudson's Bay in Canada. Returning alone a year later ('Eaglet' having had to turn back on the outbound journey during severe storms 1,200 nautical miles off the west coast of Ireland), 'Nonsuch' proved that fur-trading in the Hudson's Bay area was not only viable but extremely profitable, and thus was born the Hudson's Bay Company in 1670.
King Charles II had been persuaded by his cousin Prince Rupert of the Rhine (the first Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company) to release the 'Eaglet' from services in the Royal Navy for the voyage, and by way of thanks the Company chose the name 'Nonsuch' for their other vessel. Meaning "without equal", it is generally believed the name 'Nonsuch' was chosen in reference to one of the king's favourite mistresses, Barbara Villiers, Lady Castlemaine, as it was a nickname he called her.
Extremely Fine; attractive patina.
From the collection of the late Eduard Winkler.
In 1668 the ketch 'Nonsuch' left London in company with a second vessel, the 'Eaglet', on a speculative fur-trading voyage to Hudson's Bay in Canada. Returning alone a year later ('Eaglet' having had to turn back on the outbound journey during severe storms 1,200 nautical miles off the west coast of Ireland), 'Nonsuch' proved that fur-trading in the Hudson's Bay area was not only viable but extremely profitable, and thus was born the Hudson's Bay Company in 1670.
King Charles II had been persuaded by his cousin Prince Rupert of the Rhine (the first Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company) to release the 'Eaglet' from services in the Royal Navy for the voyage, and by way of thanks the Company chose the name 'Nonsuch' for their other vessel. Meaning "without equal", it is generally believed the name 'Nonsuch' was chosen in reference to one of the king's favourite mistresses, Barbara Villiers, Lady Castlemaine, as it was a nickname he called her.