Benefactor robinjojo Posted February 26 · Benefactor Benefactor Share Posted February 26 (edited) Call them silver riders, or ducatons or ducatones or ducatoons, these massive silver crowns produced by the various Dutch mints from 1659 to the 1790s are very impressive coins not only for their size, but also for their place in history. Since concentrating on ancient coins for the past few years, I have not acquired these and other world crowns on an ongoing basis, but these two recent arrivals are the exception. A word about these coins. When production began in 1659 these coins were hammer struck, and remained so for many years. It really wasn't until the 18th century that machine produced "milled" silver riders were produced by the mints, and that was a slow introduction. The two coins that recently arrived are hammer struck examples. As hammer struck coins they exhibit the typical results of this minting process, similar to the Spanish coins of the period and indeed the coins of antiquity. Strike quality can vary widely, with centering and weak areas being normal quality issues with these coins. The hammer struck silver riders have a charm all their own. Each example has its own character, something generally lacking with machine produced coinage. These early silver riders are by no means coins produced with aesthetically or artistically produced dies. These coins, after all, were produced to promote commerce and make the Netherlands a dominant economic, political and colonial player on the world stage in the 17'th and much of the 18'th centuries. As with the Athenian owls, speed of production was the rule of the day. This rule also applied to the lion daalders and silver ducats produced during this period. The first coin demonstrates the variable detail that often is the result of hammer striking. Netherlands, Gelders, silver rider, 1666. Davenport 4923 32.35 grams This coin, which measures 44 mm at the widest point, is well centered, but with obvious weak areas, in addition to a couple of flan flaws on the obverse. The flan also has two clipped sides, also quite typical for these large coins. It seems that the flans were cut from a thick strip of sliver before being annealed and struck. Another possibility for these flat edges is weight adjusting at the mint to bring the coins within the acceptable weight range. There's the other coin. Netherlands, West Friesland, silver rider, 1660. Davenport 4939 32.53 grams For a hammered coin, this example is quite remarkable for overall detail and flan quality. This coin is about 46 mm at the widest point. It could be a salvaged coin, but regardless, the weight, strike and excellent preservation make it a standout for this type. Here are two more silver riders, dated 1734, both from the Vliegenthart salvage. These are machine produced coins. Netherlands, Gelders, Two silver riders salvaged from the Vliegenthart (1735). Davenport 1824 32.6 grams left and 32.5 grams right. So, please feel free to share you silver riders, lion daalders, hammer struck coins or any thing else! Thanks Edited March 10 by robinjojo 16 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AETHER Posted February 26 · Member Share Posted February 26 wow those are cool. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ambr0zie Posted February 26 · Member Share Posted February 26 Massive and impressive coins, with a high level of artistry. The only relevant coin I can add is my Leuwendaalder. I keep my collection of pre 1700 coins (mostly ancients) in an album but this coin is that large it doesn't fit ... so I placed a handwritten tag in its place and I keep it in a small jewelery chest. Although the condition is not fantastic, this is above average for these issues. The flans were, in many, many cases, too small and the strikes are poor. So circulation wear is minimal on this. 41,7 mm, 27,1 g Dutch Republic (Netherlands). AR 1 Leeuwendaalder (lily, knight facing left). Kampen. 1648. MO ARG CIV IM P BELG CAMPEN, knight standing behind shield facing left / CONFIDENS DNO NON MOVETVR 1648 (He who trusts in the Lord shall not waver), rampant lion to the left. Mint mark – lily - dividing year. KM# 42.2; Delmonte S# 862; Ver# 163.3. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benefactor Theodosius Posted February 28 · Benefactor Benefactor Share Posted February 28 Great coins! What year did they stop hammer striking these? John 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benefactor robinjojo Posted February 28 · Benefactor Author Benefactor Share Posted February 28 (edited) 8 hours ago, Theodosius said: Great coins! What year did they stop hammer striking these? John The latest hammer struck silver rider that I have is dated 1673. I'm not sure how much further they were struck this way before being replaced by a press. I know that the silver riders recovered from the wreck of the ship "De Liefde" (Shetland Islands, 1711) are all machine struck, so the transition was clearly occurring at the time. Holland, silver rider, 1673, 3 over 2 (scarcer overdate). Davenport 4933 32.51 grams Edited February 28 by robinjojo 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisB Posted March 4 · Patron Share Posted March 4 This is one of my favorite coins. I like it so much that I purchased one of the modern restrikes put out by the Royal Dutch Mint 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benefactor Theodosius Posted March 5 · Benefactor Benefactor Share Posted March 5 Wow, Chris, that 1775 is phenomenal. Cool is the exact same die style. John 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benefactor robinjojo Posted March 5 · Benefactor Author Benefactor Share Posted March 5 11 hours ago, ChrisB said: This is one of my favorite coins. I like it so much that I purchased one of the modern restrikes put out by the Royal Dutch Mint Lovely ducatons, Chris! The dies created from the early 18th century, to the end of the run for these coins really improved artistically compared to the generally crude dies of the 17th century. I've been searching around for a photo that I took a while ago of another coin from the middle of the 18th century. Because of my lousy organization it took me too much time to find it, but I did, so here it is. The cool feature of this coin is the tulip edge design, very similar to the colonial Spanish 8 reales of the time. This coin came to me through a Chicago auction (forgot the name of the firm) in March 1991, for $330. Utrecht, ducaton (silver rider), 1748 ,tulip edge. Davenport 1832 32.6 grams 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dafydd Posted March 5 · Supporter Share Posted March 5 On 3/4/2024 at 7:47 PM, ChrisB said: This is one of my favorite coins. I like it so much that I purchased one of the modern restrikes put out by the Royal Dutch Mint This is weird @ChrisB. My father originated from the Province of Groningen in the Netherlands and only last night I was looking at the 1998 Netherlands Mint set for Groningen , drifted into the Netherlands Mint, saw this exact coin and started looking for one. I have some Maria Theresa bullion coins and thought one of these would be an interesting companion for them. This is one of the last Guilder sets and has an interesting token with an ancient derived reverse thus: and the obverse. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benefactor robinjojo Posted March 10 · Benefactor Author Benefactor Share Posted March 10 Here's one more hammer-struck silver rider, and my latest one, dated 1680. Netherlands, Gelders, silver rider(ducaton), 1680. Purchased from Karl Stephens Davenport 4924 32.46 grams 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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