Southern Netherlands

1/2 Stater 1578 – Bruges Catalogue: vGH 246-7 / Delmonte 122 / Vanhoudt 375 Mint masters: Cornelis and Albert van Hooghendorp Mint mark: lily Obverse: Philip II, with scepter, behind the shield. Reverse: cross formed from the initials of Philip II. After the Pacification of Ghent in 1576, the States-General decided to put a series of new, uniform coins into circulation. These coins were deliberately issued at a higher nominal value than their silver content justified. The difference went to financing the war against Spain. Although Philip II was formally still recognized as sovereign and his name therefore remained on the coins, his actual sovereign authority was no longer accepted. This is also evident from the inscriptions: his personal motto “DOMINVS MIHI ADVITOR” — “the Lord is my helper” — gave way to the more political slogan “PACE ET IVSTITIA”, or “peace and justice.” The Statendaalder had an official rate of 32 stuivers, equal to that of the Burgundian cross-thaler. In terms of silver content, however, the coin clearly lagged: the Statendaalder contained about 16% less silver. The States coinage, introduced from 1577, proved to be little successful in practice. Because the coins circulated at too high a rate, this effectively functioned as a hidden tax. This led not only to distrust, but also to prohibition outside the Netherlands, including within the Holy Roman Empire. In the Netherlands itself, the new coinage also caused confusion and problems in payment transactions. In December 1579, Archduke Matthias and William of Orange therefore decided to return to the older coin types of Philip II. High quality for this type

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