Ducaton (the silver rider)

A large trade silver coin of 63 stuivers, called the silver rider from the galloping mounted knight cut on it. It was established in 1659, designed to compete with the ducaton and the patagon of the southern Netherlands. Money made not to circulate at home but for export — the leading example of the negotiepenningen. The ducaton was loaded onto VOC ships for Asia, while the silver ducat of 50 stuivers, established at the same time, went to the Baltic and the Levant. It stands for a system only a trading republic would have: making a different coin for each market it was bound for. This piece was struck in 1754 in the province of Holland.