6 Stuiver

The VOC issued copper coinage not as a convenience but out of necessity — silver was too valuable to waste on small transactions in the spice trade's lower tiers, and local populations in VOC-controlled ports required a medium for daily commerce the Company could control. This particular denomination circulated primarily in Ceylon and the Coromandel Coast, where the 6 stuiver occupied an awkward middle position: too large for petty trade, too small for significant mercantile exchange.

At over 82 grams, these pieces are among the heaviest copper coins struck under VOC authority, and surviving examples almost always show edge damage from the crude striking process at Enkhuizen or Hoorn.