Pier2 nous présente ce superbe ducat d’or à l’histoire toute particulière ! Il s’agit d’une pièce en or de 3,494 gr et de 21 mm de diamètre, frappée par la Monnaie Royale des Pays-Bas à l’atelier d’Utrecht de 1795 à 1805.
On the obverse of this magnificent gold ducat is the highly detailed motif of the standing knight, emblematic of Dutch coinage.
Its history is fascinating: the knight holds a bundle of seven arrows in his left hand. These represent the ‘Republic of the Seven United Netherlands’ (1581 to 1795), comprising seven provinces: Holland, Zeeland, Groningen, Utrecht, Friesland, Gelderland and Overijssel.
On the reverse of the coin, a five-line inscription in Latin on a tablet: *Moneta Ordinum Provinciarum Foederatarum Belgicarum Ad Legem Imperii*. Translation into English: (Currency of the United Provinces of the Netherlands issued in accordance with the law).
The Batavian Republic (1795–1806) is an often overlooked period in the history of the Netherlands.
It marks the transition between the Republic of the Seven United Provinces and the Kingdom of Holland under Napoleon. In 1795, the United Provinces, weakened by costly wars and internal divisions, were invaded by revolutionary France. Under French pressure, the Batavian Republic was proclaimed on 19 January 1795.
It became a satellite state of France. The period of the Batavian Republic (1795–1806) is also fascinating from a monetary history perspective, both in the Netherlands and in the Dutch East Indies. This era marked a break with the monetary traditions of the Ancien Régime and the introduction of reforms inspired by the French Revolution. The country benefited directly from French monetary innovations, thanks to the dispatch of experts and equipment from Paris. French engineers were sent to Utrecht to train local workers and install new machinery.
Under the Republic of the Seven United Provinces, each province (Holland, Zeeland, etc.) minted its own coins in local workshops, with varying weights, finenesses and designs. The Batavian Republic centralised coinage in Utrecht, where the main mint was established, enabling unprecedented quality control and uniformity.
The Republic introduced a decimal system, inspired by the French franc. (1 gulden = 100 cents). At that time (1795–1806) 1 gold ducat = 3 gulden (or florins). The gold ducat was an international currency, often used for foreign trade, whilst the gulden was the everyday currency in the Netherlands.
The 1-ducat coin minted in Utrecht is a technical masterpiece of its time, with its fluted edge, its precise weight of 3.494 g of 983‰ gold, and its uniform design.
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