1/2 Daalder/16 stuivers '1/2 Statendaalder' - Philip II

Utrecht struck this half daalder in the opening years of the Dutch Revolt, during the chaotic interval between Spanish authority and the consolidation of the Union of Utrecht in 1579. The city was navigating a genuinely dangerous political tightrope — Philip II remained the nominal sovereign, which is why his name appears on the coin at all, yet the province was already drifting toward the rebel cause. Coins bearing a Spanish king's name while funding opposition to his rule are not uncommon in this period, but Utrecht's timing was particularly acute.

The .750 fineness reflects a deliberate debasement from earlier daalder standards, a pattern across multiple Holland and Zeeland mints in the late 1570s as silver supplies tightened under wartime strain.