Got one in the mail a while back. A 1672 Leeuwendaalder from the Dutch Republic. Almost 400 years old and it landed in my mailbox in Indiana. Still blows my mind when that happens.
The leeuwendaalder translates to "Lion Dollar" in English. And if that word sounds familiar, it should. This coin is one of the reasons we call our currency the dollar. It circulated in the American colonies and the name stuck. The lion on this coin also gave its name to the currencies of Romania, Moldova, Albania, and Bulgaria. Their words for their money, leu, lek, and lev, all mean lion in their respective languages.
The obverse shows an armored knight standing with his head turned right. He's wearing a plumed helmet and holding a ribbon attached to a shield with a rampant lion on it. The Latin inscription around the edge translates to "Silver money of the confederated Netherlands."
The reverse features a rampant lion facing left with the date 1672 split at the top. The Latin inscription translates to "He who trusts in the Lord will not be moved." A declaration of faith baked right into the currency.
The Specs
This is a silver coin, .750 fine, weighing about 27.68 grams with a diameter around 42mm. Plain edge. Hand struck, so every one of these is a little different. Not sure what mine grades, but you can still see most of the major details.
The History
The first leeuwendaalder was struck in 1575 by the Province of Holland. The Dutch were in the middle of the Eighty Years' War, fighting for independence from Spain. They needed money to fund the rebellion, so they created a new coin that made no reference to the Spanish king Philip II.
Here's the part I love. The silver used to mint these coins often came from Spanish cobs that were struck in Mexico. Dutch privateers, basically pirates with a government license, would intercept Spanish treasure ships and steal the silver. Then the Dutch would melt it down and turn it into leeuwendaalders to fund the war against Spain. They were literally using Spain's own silver to fight Spain.
These coins circulated everywhere. The Baltic. The Mediterranean. The American colonies. They were a major trade coin for almost two centuries. That's why so many of them show heavy wear or have test cuts where merchants sliced into them to make sure they were solid silver all the way through.
Why I bought This
I've been collecting coins for a while now, and I keep coming back to the ones with stories. This one has plenty. Revolution. Piracy. International trade. The birth of the word "dollar." All of that wrapped up in a beat up piece of silver that somehow survived since 1672.
It's not a perfect coin. It's not even close. But I don't need perfect. I need history I can hold in my hand.
If you have any further information about this coin you would like to add, like historical information I left out or want to correct any I may have gotten wrong, please drop it in the comments.
Thanks for reading,
Joe
References
Numista. (n.d.). Daalder "Leeuwendaalder" (MO ARG PRO) - Province of Gelderland. https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces40626.html
Wikipedia. (n.d.). Dutch rijksdaalder. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_rijksdaalder
LastDodo. (n.d.). Deventer leeuwendaalder 1640. https://www.lastdodo.com/en/items/7707613-deventer-leeuwendaalder-1640
CoinsCatalog. (n.d.). Dutch Silver Lion Daalder 1640. https://coinscatalog.net/netherlands/coin-silver-lion-daalder-km-52-overijssel-deventer-city-standard-coinage
Notes:
-All content is mine unless otherwise annotated.
-Images are my own unless otherwise noted.
-Photos edited using Linux photo editor and drawing and/or iPhone SE.
-Page Dividers from The Terminal Discord.