The 1630 Dominion of the Seas Medal
Eimer Plate Coin

CNG 102, Lot: 1561. Estimate $7500. Sold for $7500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

STUART. Charles I. 1625-1649. AR Medal (61mm, 49.55 g, 12h). Dominion of the Seas. By N. Briot. Cast 1630. CAROLVS I D G MAG BRITANIÆ FRAN ET HIB REX, armored and mantled bust right, wearing ornate collar (N B)RIOT to left; lozenge stops / NEC META MIHI QVI TERMINVS ORBI · (lozenge stops) (Nor is a limit to me which is a boundary to the world), ship (the Sovereign of the Seas) under sail right on sea; to left, fort on seashore. Van Loon II 227; MI 256/40; Eimer 118a and plate 12 (this piece illustrated). EF, attractively toned, attached suspension loop, lightly chased. Of exquisite workmanship. Rare.

Ex Christopher Foley Collection (Woolley & Wallis, 16 October 2014), lot 216; Baldwins 31 (14 October 2002), lot 981; Seaby Coin & Medal Bulletin 706 (June 1977), no. U454.

The title ‘Sovereign of the Seas’ is an ancient one, first attested in a Charter of 904, when King Edgar claims to be “Anglorum Basileus… Oceanique Britanniam circumjacentis” [King of the Angles… and of the Ocean surrounding Britain], although the full assertion of the title came after 1066, when William the Conqueror could reliably claim to have united the seas between Britain and France. In 1630, growing wealth from the New World and the creation of new trade routes led to increased concern over England’s naval power, particularly given the dire financial situation of the British crown at the time. One way of deterring attack while simultaneously not inviting war or asking the hostile Parliament for the money required to build a serious fleet was for Charles I to find a historical basis to assert his claim to sovereignty over the seas surrounding the British Isles. This would then allow him to require foreign fishing vessels to buy fishing licenses from the English Crown, as well as obligating all foreign ships, regardless of rank, to pay honor to the Admiral’s ship by lowering their flag and striking the topsail.

The Dutch, themselves in possession of an estimable Navy at this time, were especially irked by these requirements, particularly since the English did not seem to think that the sale of licenses obligated them to protect Dutch fishermen from the threat of piracy.

This medal apparently found favor with Charles, as it was issued twice more in 1639 with updated portraiture and clothing.