Netherlands Ducat - 1781 - Museum Gallery

November 2024

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With the Dutch arrival on the world stage as a major trading power they became aware of the need for a standardized trade coinage. This was particularly true after the creation of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), in 1602. This trade coinage became highly successful due to the Ducats' consistent weight and purity. From 1586 to 1816 this standard Dutch design ducat was set at 3.515 g. and a fineness of 0.986. This was lowered slightly in 1817.
The obverse of the Netherlands gold ducat shows a knight to the right, holding a bunch of arrows in the left hand and a sword in the right hand. The obverse legend (which is also their motto), "Concordia Res Parvae Crescunt," is Latin for “Union makes small things grow”. The last letters of the obverse legends indicate the mint where coin was minted, in this case TRA for the Utrecht mint. Six other mints also minted the ducat at various times accounting for the seven provinces of the Republic. The knight usually holds seven bundled arrows, a design element adopted from the Spanish monarchs.
The ornamental reverse features a square with the following abbreviated words: MO: ORD: PROVIN: FOEDER: BELG. AD. LEG . IMP. It is a Latin text for Moneta Ordinum Provinciarum Foederatarum Belgii Ad Legem Imperii. Which translated as: “A coin of the provinces of the United Netherlands according to the law of the Empire”.
These coins are still being minted, making this trade ducat the oldest continuously minted coin maintaining the same design. They've been around for over 430 years! To read a more complete history of this historic coin see this Coinweek (26 Sep 2016) article at this [ link ]