14 Stuivers, klippe

Struck during the siege of Leiden in 1574, when Spanish forces under Valdez blockaded the city for months and the population was reduced to eating rats, dogs, and shoe leather. When metal ran short, the city minted emergency coinage — klippes — from whatever silver could be gathered, cut into square blanks from plate rather than cast into proper round flans. This piece is among the most historically charged siege coinages in European numismatics.

The siege broke on October 3rd when William of Orange ordered the Hollandse IJssel dikes cut, flooding the surrounding polders and allowing a relief fleet to reach the city.