Zierikzee was besieged by Spanish forces under Mondragon from late 1575 into 1576, and the town's desperate need for a functioning currency during the blockade produced some of the most irregular emergency coinage of the Eighty Years' War. Klippe issues like this one were struck from crudely cut square planchets — a direct consequence of no proper round blanks being available under siege conditions.
The Zeeland provincial mark confirms this was sanctioned by local authority rather than improvised by a private party. Delmonte's attribution S#171 places it firmly within the documented Zierikzee siege series, which is short and well-catalogued.
Zierikzee was besieged by Spanish forces under Mondragon from late 1575 into 1576, and the town's desperate need for a functioning currency during the blockade produced some of the most irregular emergency coinage of the Eighty Years' War. Klippe issues like this one were struck from crudely cut square planchets — a direct consequence of no proper round blanks being available under siege conditions.
The Zeeland provincial mark confirms this was sanctioned by local authority rather than improvised by a private party. Delmonte's attribution S#171 places it firmly within the documented Zierikzee siege series, which is short and well-catalogued.