Medal commemorating the recovery of the sunken treasure ship by Treileben

Bibliography:
-Gerard van Loon. Beschryving der Nederlandsche Historipenningen : of beknopt Verhaal van't gene sedert de overdracht der heerschappye van Keyzer Karel V. op Koning Philips zynen zoon, tot het sluyten van den Uytrechtschen Vreede, in de Zeventien Nederlandsche Gewesten is voorgevallen. Graavenhaag 1726, vol.II, book 6, pp.477-479, ill.
-Gerard van Loon. Histoire métallique des XVII Provinces des Pays- Bas : depuis l'abdication de Charles-Quint, jusqu'a la Paix de Bade en MDCCXVI. (translate in French from the Dutch) The Hague 1732, vol. II, book 6, pp. 458-460, ill.


Obverse:
Boats with men on board raising a sunken wreck, distant view of West-Kapelle.
Above, the arms of Marelis van der Goes with a ribbon inscribed in Latin: "SOLI DEO HONOR[EM] / M[ARCELLUS].V[AN DER]. GOES / ET GLORIA[M]".

(MARCELIS VAN DER GOES TO GOD ALONE THE HONOUR AND GLORY)

Below, the arms of Zeeland with a mermaid and a triton

Reverse:
The Latin inscription: "In memoriam rei / Quâ arte admirandâ / priorumque sæculorum cogitata / superante, prope Valachros in ple-/-no ac æstuanti mari, sub auspiciis / Senatus Zelandici, ac procurante / Marcel[lo] Goesio, e navi submersâ ac / disruptâ, profundumque sub arenis la-/-titante immensa argenti, tum rudis / tum signati, vis, gemmæ plures, ac / tormenta bellica, subducta, ser- / -vata ac veteribus dominis / ex jure restituta sunt. /1660."

(A memorial of the admirable art surpassing the inventions of previous centuries by which under the auspices of the deputy councillors of Zeeland and the direction of Marcelis van der Goes, a great quantity of silver, coined and uncoined, precious stones and pieces of artillery have been raised up off Walcheren from a ship lost, destroyed and sunk in the sands, and have been returned to their proper owners. 1660)
The text is within a garland of laurel, entwined with an inscribed ribbon with the names of the eight directors of this operation and their family coat-of-arms:

R.V. BEKE (Reinier van Beke) - Middelburg
I. D. IONGE (Job de Jonge) - Zierikzee
V. VRYBERGHE (Willem van Vrijberghe) - Tholen
I.D. MAUREGNAULT (Johan de Mauregnault) - Veere
P.D. HUYBERT (Peter de Huybert) - Secretary of State
AD. VETT (Adriaan Vett) - Pensionary of the Council
G. INGELS (Gaspar Ingels) - Vlissingen
G.V. NISSE (Gerard van der Nisse) – Goes

In 1660, the famous Swedish engineer, Lieutenant-Colonel Hans Albrekt von Treileben, was commissioned by Marcelis van der Goes to recover what could be from the ship of Captain Waterdrinker which sank on October 8, 1659. The Dutch vessel was then in road from Cadiz to Vlissingen. She rolled on a sandbank off the coast of Zeeland near Westkapelle and sank in a few minutes taking with her 30 tonnes of silver, 200,000 silver coins, diamonds, pearls and a white marble horse with a saddle of gold... Treileben's invention consisting of a diving bell and a system of large grippers enabled him to save so much of the cargo that van der Goes decided to make this rare silver medal to commemorate the event.

Some examples of this medal are preserved in the British Museum, London (inv. G3,FD.87), in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (NG-VG-1-938), or in the Teylers Museum, Haarlem (TMNK 00681).