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1/2 Stuiver Silver
| Issuer | City of Leiden |
|---|---|
| Year | 1574 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Round (irregular) |
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| Obverse description | Central field displays the crowned municipal arms of Leiden set within an ornate decorated cartouche, itself enclosed by concentric beaded circles. The shield bears the city's traditional heraldic device, surmounted by a crown rendered in low relief characteristic of emergency siege coinage. A circular legend in Dutch runs along the outer rim between the beaded borders, separated by rosette or floral stops. The overall execution is crude yet purposeful, reflecting the exigencies of wartime production during the Siege of Leiden. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | ✿ ENDE × SALICHT × LEYDEN (Translation: and blesses Leiden) |
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| Additional information |
This piece dates to the siege of Leiden by Spanish forces — one of the most brutal of the Eighty Years' War. Cut off and starving, the city issued emergency coinage (obsidionaal geld) struck from whatever silver could be gathered, including cut church plate and confiscated valuables. The siege lasted from May to October 1574, ending only when William of Orange ordered the deliberate flooding of the surrounding polders to float a relief fleet to the city walls.
HPM cataloguing places this among the documented Leiden obsidional issues, struck under conditions where minting precision was secondary to speed. The irregular weight tolerance across surviving examples reflects exactly that.