-40%
4 VOC Dutch East Indies Co Copper Duits Coins,1700's, Certificate,Story & Album
$ 26.75
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Description
4 VOC Dutch East Indies Co Copper Duits Coins,1700's, Certificate,Story & Album.SET OF FOUR COATS-OF -ARMS FROM 4 NETHERLANDS PROVINCES--CIRCULATED IN SOUTHEAST ASIA COLONIAL "SPICE ISLANDS" 17th TO 18th CENTURY. APPEAR TO HAVE BEEN RECOVERED FROM SEA
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The United Dutch East India Company-Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC) was established in 1602
with the aim of sending ships to Asia to buy pepper and spices. The VOC developed into a multinational entity
with branches in a dozen Asian countries. By the mid-18th century the company employed 36,000 people. It built
its own ships, some 1,500, which in total made over 5,000 journeys to Asia, where a network of trading posts
were founded from the Persian Gulf to the China Sea. The company was granted sovereign powers: it minted
currency, occupied territories and maintained an armada of warships and a small army, 10,000 strong, to defend
its territories, facilities and ships. It was the first company ever to sell stock shares, and was arguably the most
powerful enterprise of its kind in all of history. However, emerging British domination of the sea eventually took
its toll.
It took a Dutch ship three to six months to travel from Holland to Batavia. Pirates, storms, treacherous waters and
warfare took their toll on these tall ships. More than 250 were lost during the two centuries the VOC operated,
scattering countless treasure to the bottom of the shipping lanes from East Asia to northern Europe. This fact
prompted curiosity about the origins of the specific group of copper duit coins from which these were selected.
Where and when these coins were found is in fact shrouded in mystery. The elderly merchant of Ceylonese origin
who supplied them claimed to have possessed this hoard in his family for decades. Upon close inspection, the raw
coins showed clear signs of exposure to a marine environment. While we cannot know the actual origins, it is
speculated that these genuine coins spent time in the sea before they were later recovered and expertly conserved.
We may never know the stories these coins could tell if they could speak.
To fulfill a shortage of currency in its expanding territories, in the 17th century, copper duits were struck at
provincial mints in The Netherlands. Coins showing the VOC monogram and the coats of arms of Holland, West
Friesland, Zeeland and Utrecht were minted for circulation in The Dutch East Indies, India, Ceylon and Malacca.
This collection of genuine VOC duits originated in these four mints.
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Thanks for looking and please visit my store where you will find LOTS of these uncirculated coins,circulated coins,coins by region and type.Also there are uncirculated banknotes in assortments of 25 different,50 different,100 different, bulk banknotes and banknotes by country.
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