2 Stivers

Overijssel's 2 Stivers occupied an awkward moment in Dutch monetary history — the Union of Utrecht had federated the provinces in 1579, but coinage remained stubbornly provincial for decades afterward, with each issuer maintaining its own types and often its own fineness standards. The result was a circulation nightmare of incompatible small silver that merchants and moneychangers navigated through published exchange tables rather than face value.

The .583 fineness here places this below the purity levels of competing provincial issues, a deliberate cost-cutting measure that other provinces periodically complained about to the States General.