2 Daalder

Zierikzee held out against a Spanish siege from late 1575 into the summer of 1576, and like several Dutch towns under prolonged blockade, the garrison and civic authorities struck emergency coinage when regular money ran short. This piece — at over 57 grams one of the heavier siege issues of the Eighty Years' War — was produced under conditions of acute material scarcity, which makes the weight itself an oddity worth investigating: variations in siege coinages from this period frequently reflect whatever silver plate, ecclesiastical objects, or bullion could be commandeered at the time.

The town surrendered to Mondragon's forces on 2 July 1576, ending one of the more brutal investment operations of the early war.