Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
40 Stuivers Woerden
| Issuer | City of Woerden (Dutch Revolt emergency issue) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1575 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Gulden (1506-1581) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Central field occupied by the crowned coat of arms of Woerden, depicting a horizontally divided shield charged with lozenges in the upper quarters and a chequered fess in the centre, all enclosed within a beaded inner circle. The denomination numeral 40 flanks the shield on either side, with the date 1575 positioned above. The Latin legend PRO ARIS ET FOCIS (For altars and hearths) runs along the periphery, reflecting the patriotic and defensive character of this siege coinage. The entire design is crudely but boldly executed in the primitive hammered style characteristic of emergency issues struck under the exigencies of the Spanish siege of Woerden. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | 1575 |
| Additional information |
Woerden was besieged by Spanish forces under Requesens in the winter of 1575, and this piece was struck inside the walls when silver had run out entirely. Tin siege coinage of this kind was not symbolic — it was functional currency used to pay the garrison. The Dutch Revolt produced dozens of such emergency issues, but Woerden's are among the earliest tin examples and survive in consistently poor condition due to the metal's instability over centuries.
Tin oxidizes aggressively, and most known specimens show surface degradation that obscures detail. Gelder's cataloguing of this type as TO#71a acknowledges at least one die variant within the series.