3 Florins Dutch West India Company, Recife Mint

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.