The VOC half duit was struck not for European commerce but specifically for circulation in the Company's Asian territories, where small copper coinage was chronically undersupplied. Zeeland was one of several Dutch chambers authorized to produce these pieces, and output quality varied considerably between chambers — Zeeland's issues are generally regarded as among the less carefully produced, with poorly centered strikes and uneven planchets being routine rather than exceptional.
By the time production of this type ceased in 1789, the VOC itself was four years from insolvency, formally dissolved by the Dutch government in 1799.
The VOC half duit was struck not for European commerce but specifically for circulation in the Company's Asian territories, where small copper coinage was chronically undersupplied. Zeeland was one of several Dutch chambers authorized to produce these pieces, and output quality varied considerably between chambers — Zeeland's issues are generally regarded as among the less carefully produced, with poorly centered strikes and uneven planchets being routine rather than exceptional.
By the time production of this type ceased in 1789, the VOC itself was four years from insolvency, formally dissolved by the Dutch government in 1799.