Most every Dutch ducat I've seen has the date evenly separated by the Dutch militia man. If this coin had not been certified by PCGS, I would have questioned its authenticity. How often is does the date of the coin have three digits on the left side and only one digit on the right? (I'm having troubles uploading the picture. I will try later.) guy
Then PCGS screwed up big time ! Or - it's a fake PCGS slab, which sounds more likely. There is no genuine Netherlands ducat, of any date, that has 3 digits on one side and 1 digit on the other.
The certification number is valid. But is the coin? http://s766.photobucket.com/albums/xx301/Bart9349/Dutch Ducat/ guy
Silver eagle: Thanks for the help. I had some problems posting the pictures. (I still can't delete the wrong picture.) guy
DCH ... I think you are right on ..... KM sure has it listed. FWIW that date (or configuration thereof ) is not noted in Delmonte's book.
Nor is it listed in the book put out by the Netherlands mint. I don't have all my books with me here in FL yet but in all my years of studying ducats never have I heard of such a thing. I am still suspicious.
Is it possible that it is a fairly new discovery? (Well newer than Dougs books LOL) you know it might have been sat in someones safe for years and they never noticed (not all coins are bought by collectors after all) until it went in for slabbing.
I peaked in at the pic. They gave me goose bumps. Wow. Those are beautiful. Esp. #2, and #3 image. I think I will look into those. They sure are old.
i thought pcgs (and the other tpg's for that matter) only put a guarantee on american coins? i swear i thought i read that somewhere. then again, i've been known to be wrong.
In one of the coin show radio broadcasts GDMJSP explains some of the history of ducats...you should liaten to the broadcast if you haven't yet
Thanks everyone for their opinions. I want to especially thank DCH, Silvereagle and Doug for their research. I am just amazed at the wealth of knowledge found on this site. :bow: I am also in awe of the amazing Silvereagle gold collection (including some nice ducats) Its link is found above on this thread. I am not a coin collector...but I do accumulate bits of history that interest me. This coin embodies my admiration for the first modern republic, Netherlands. Ik hou van Amsterdam (I love Amsterdam): :too-cool-for: One reason I sometimes prefer NGC over PCGS is that NGC's certification verification includes a picture. With the new PCGS office in Paris, I guess we will be seeing more unusual continental European coins introduced to the US market. Should be interesting. Mr. Bigglesworth says: Dank jullie wel guy
I confirm - this date 163-8 exists as genuine coin also in all Dutch catalogues. These coin were struck with dies cut with hand, not like 100 years later (machine strike) so in this era of hammered coinage it was pretty common to have the same coin (same mint, same year) looking completely different - of course "different" in meaning of those later standards. Coins from second half of 17th century seem more precise because of mechanisation of production process in mints after 1670 in Seven Provinces.
Thank you. I worried about the authenticity. I was hoping that PCGS didn't mess up. I love the history behind older coins. This coin was minted ten years before the end of the Thirty Years' War. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty_Years'_War If the Dutch had not prevailed, Europe today would be like today's Middle East. I know this is not a political site, but the West has much to be thankful for from the tolerant and free Dutch of the 17th century. guy
Hmm, I find such "what would have happened if" theories fairly problematic. Especially when it comes to a peace treaty that was more than 350 years ago ... Christian
Hmm Maybe but historically the strength of the Dutch Republic played a cultural and political break with European History. In order to understand the impact of Dutch society means looking past the history. To look at the history, one might be hesitant to view them as tolerant. They did, after all, eat the heart of their Grand Pensioner in 1672 and hanged its greatest liberal politician, Oldenbarnevelt, in a religious war between Remonstrance and Counter-Remonstrants, or the destruction of icons in the late 1500's in both southern and northern Netherlands. When one studies Dutch art of the period, one sees the tremendous difference in Dutch cultural life from the rest of Europe and it paved the way for the Modern Europe, infecting England, and transforming France, perhaps setting the pace for the French Revolution not much later, and leading Germany to secularization. In a word, the Dutch had proven how a people could live a good life, with tolerance and practical humility and exported that to everyone else though their arts and literature (and Navy). Their invasion of take over of the English Government by William and Mary was the end of the last grasps of the Middle Ages. Amanda