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3 Florins Dutch West India Company, Recife Mint
| Issuer | Dutch West India Company (Geoctroyeerde Westindische Compagnie) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1645-1646 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Hammered |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | Square klippe flan with a dotted border along all four sides. The field carries a three-line Latin inscription in bold, well-spaced capital lettering: ANNO on the upper line, BRASIL on the middle line, and the date 1646 on the lower line. The legends are struck in high relief with slightly uneven character spacing characteristic of hand-hammered klippe coinage. The plain field shows typical surface irregularities consistent with the emergency or provisional coinage struck at Recife during the Dutch occupation of Brazil. Certain die varieties exhibit a diamond or dot after BRASIL. |
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| Additional information |
The Recife mint operated for barely two years under the WIC, established as Dutch Brazil — Nieuw Holland — entered its terminal decline. Portuguese colonists had launched their revolt in 1645, and the Company was minting gold in a city it would surrender within a decade. These pieces represent one of the only gold coinages struck in colonial Brazil under any European power during the seventeenth century, produced from gold moving through Pernambuco's trade networks at a moment when the WIC could no longer defend its position on the ground.
Surviving examples are rare by any measure. The mint's output was limited, the political situation chaotic, and much of what was struck likely melted or circulated out of the region entirely.