Dutch Duit

DesertRat

I received a Dutch "Duit" from my folks in the mail today. It is very worn and the date is difficult to read. It appears to be either 1780 or 1730. They bought it in Texas in a plastic case labeled as "The Original New York Penny" What is funny is the COA says it is a genuine legal tender coin minted by the United States

Can someone tell me when these were minted and how prolific are fakes as I have my doubts but that is only based on the packaging.

Thanks

Danny

Pics added. Sorry for the quality and alignment, I use a cheap scanner and got lazy

laurentyvan

I found the following in an eBay auction description. I assume it's accurate?

This coin, a duit, is one of a series struck primarily between 1726 and 1794 for the use of the Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC) or the Dutch East India Company. Five provincial mints produced coins for the VOC. The reverse of this coin carries their monogram while the obverse carries the crowned arms of West-Friesland and was struck at the provincial mint of Medemblik.

Originally intended for use in the Indian Ocean area, due to the immense power of the VOC their use spread. Although made of base metal of little intrinsic value, these trade tokens were accepted as money throughout the 18th Century world. In Colonial America they were known as New York Pennies.

The duit is a copper coin about the size of a U.S. nickel.

DesertRat

<< <i>I found the following in an eBay auction description. I assume it's accurate?

This coin, a duit, is one of a series struck primarily between 1726 and 1794 for the use of the Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC) or the Dutch East India Company. Five provincial mints produced coins for the VOC. The reverse of this coin carries their monogram while the obverse carries the crowned arms of West-Friesland and was struck at the provincial mint of Medemblik.

Originally intended for use in the Indian Ocean area, due to the immense power of the VOC their use spread. Although made of base metal of little intrinsic value, these trade tokens were accepted as money throughout the 18th Century world. In Colonial America they were known as New York Pennies.

The duit is a copper coin about the size of a U.S. nickel. >>



That seems to be in line with other info I have found.

Thanks!

spoon

They're common as dirt in low to mid grades and range $2-20 (G-VF+). VOC duits seem to be tougher in high grades, but duits from some Dutch states can actually be had in UNC for relatively modest prices ~$60-150.

lordmarcovan

Hey, Danny- it's nice to see you on the Darkside in addition to the MD Forum!

I sold off a bunch of duits from various provinces, on my last list. Not sure if I have any left or not. I think the last one just went.

Fakes are not a problem, since as spoon just pointed out, the real thing can often be had for well under five bucks. As a matter of fact, most of the ones I just sold (the majority of which were under five bucks), were far nicer than the coin pictured.

You see a lot of dealers hyping up the "Original New York penny" angle, which is not entirely inaccurate since NY was Dutch before it was English, but the fact of the matter is, folks in Colonial America would spend just about anything round and metallic, whether it was a Dutch duit or an English halfpenny or a Spanish half-real or any of a number of things. As a detectorist, I can attest to the wide array of foreign stuff that was circulating.

Duits are a fun way to get your feet wet in 18th century coinage, precisely because they are so cheap.

DesertRat

Thanks for the replies. I just want to make sure that my folks aren't getting ripped off. I think my mom found a coin "dealer" at a swap meet in south Texas and she sends me coins every so often, mostly common circulated Buffalos. I don't want her paying through the nose for a supposedly rare coin that isn't.

WillieBoyd2

DesertRat

<< <i>I edited the image to get a clearer picture:



>>



thanks!

WillieBoyd2

I didn't want to wait until you got "a round duit".