Description:
This is a genuine Dutch 2 stuivers coin that was minted in the Netherlands in 1730. The obverse features a crowned shield with a rampant lion and the reverse shows a castle with two stars, the 1730 date and the mint name ZEELANDIA. Zeeland is the westernmost province of the Netherlands and large parts of Zeeland are below sea level. The region has a history of great flooding and the coat of arms of Zeeland depicts a lion half-emerged from water.
By the 18th century, the Dutch East India Company and the Dutch West India Company had established outposts all over the world and these stuiver coins were used in shipping commerce. The VOC “Verrenigde-Indische Compagnie” or "United East Indian Company used a sea route known as the “Spice Route” for trading between Europe, Africa, Arabia and the Orient. The main hub port in Asia for the Dutch East India Company was Batavia (Jakarta) in Indonesia. Galle in Sri Lanka, with facilities for ship repairs, was the second trading hub.
The warehouses in Galle were packed with trading items brought from other parts of Asia (textiles, pepper and yarn from India) as well as local products such as cinnamon, cardamom, pearls, gems and ivory. During this time, the VOC became so powerful, the king granted them the right to wage wars and make treaties with foreign princes. The Dutch continued to control the Spice Route and thereby all shipping out of the Orient, until the British started making inroads in the late 1700s.
