THE DUTCH DUCAT

Obverse: A knight holding a bundle of arrows, which symbolizes the collaboration of the provinces of the new Republic.
Reverse: The legend MO ORD PROVIN FOEDER BELGAD LEG IMP which roughly translates into "coin of the provinces of the United Netherlands according to the law of the empire of the Low Countries".

The seven northern provinces of the Netherlands (including Zeeland, West Friesland, Friesland, Gelderland, Holland, Utrecht and Overijssel) declared their independence from Spanish domination in 1581 becoming the Republic of the Netherlands.

In the following century, the "Golden Age" of Dutch history, the Netherlands became a great sea and colonial power, a patron of the arts and a refuge for the persecuted. In fact, they became so prominent that they for a while challenged the dominant sea power of the age, Great Britain.

These gold ducats were machine made by a screw press on planchets cut by hand. This ducat is an excellent example of this technique. First minted in the sixteenth century, they found wide acceptance as world trade coins. Coins of this style were issued well into the nineteenth century.