This piece dates to the tumultuous governorship of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, who arrived in the Netherlands in late 1585 as Elizabeth I's appointed governor-general following the Treaty of Nonsuch. Zeeland, like several provinces, struck coinage under his authority — hence the collector designation "Leicester real." His tenure collapsed within two years amid friction with the States-General over his unilateral acceptance of sovereignty, and he departed in 1587, making the window for this issue exceptionally narrow.
The HPM and Delmonte references both treat Zeeland's Leicester-period coinage as scarce, the provincial output being limited by both time and political instability.
This piece dates to the tumultuous governorship of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, who arrived in the Netherlands in late 1585 as Elizabeth I's appointed governor-general following the Treaty of Nonsuch. Zeeland, like several provinces, struck coinage under his authority — hence the collector designation "Leicester real." His tenure collapsed within two years amid friction with the States-General over his unilateral acceptance of sovereignty, and he departed in 1587, making the window for this issue exceptionally narrow.
The HPM and Delmonte references both treat Zeeland's Leicester-period coinage as scarce, the provincial output being limited by both time and political instability.