1/2 Daalder `1/2 Uniedaalder / Lion Daalder`

Utrecht was among the founding signatories of the Union of Utrecht in January 1579 — the treaty that effectively created the Dutch Republic — and this half-daalder belongs to the very first years of that unified coinage system. The Lion Daalder series was introduced precisely because the Republic needed a reliable silver trade coin recognizable across provincial borders and acceptable to foreign merchants, particularly in the Baltic grain trade where Spanish reales dominated but Dutch silver was aggressively expanding its foothold.

The .750 fineness was a deliberate compromise, undercutting the purity of competing issues to keep export costs manageable. Merchants knew it and priced accordingly.