Among the First Colonial Dollars in the New World

Triton XVII, Lot: 1363. Estimate $500. Sold for $1400. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

LOW COUNTRIES, Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden (Dutch Republic). Zeeland. 1581-1795. AR Leeuwendaalder (41mm, , 9h). Dated 1598. P&W Ze 28; CNM 2.34.44; Davenport 8870. In NGC encapsulation graded AU55, toned.

Several coins were produced in the Netherlands to help facilitate export trade. Probably the most important of these coins was the lion dollar (the leeuwendaalder), which was first minted in the Dutch province of Holland in 1575 during their struggle for independence. Within a short time, lion dollars were produced by six of the seven Dutch provinces, along with independent issues produced by some of the major cities. The lion dollar circulated throughout the Middle East, the Dutch colonies, as well as in the Dutch New Netherlands Colony. The lion dollar also circulated throughout the English American colonies during the 17th and early 18th centuries, especially in Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
The inflow of these lion dollars into the American colonies was not only by trade, but also by piracy. Looted lion dollars from ships as far away as the African coasts are documented. Lion dollars were also called “dog dollars,” as the lion of the first examples looked more like a dog than a lion. As these coins were very popular for international trade, the dies were produced in great haste and thus are usually very crudely executed. Examples circulating in the colonies were usually fairly well worn so that the design was not that easy to recognize. The term “dog dollar” is an indication that the first types were already in use in the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, which was founded in 1624 (and renamed to New York by the British in 1660). The name is found in colonial-era documents used to officially tariff this dollar for circulation in the American colonies.
This piece is an exceptional example of a very rare subtype of Zeeland with the lion swimming in the waves. Although it is most often thought to stand for the heroic Dutch fight against the water and flooding, the truth is even more interesting as it originates from the Treaty of Nonsuch, where the English queen Elizabeth promised to support the fight of Zeeland and other Dutch provinces against the Spanish king Philip II. Several medals and coins of the period from Zeeland incorporate the Latin legend LUCTOR ET EMERGO (I struggle and emerge), as well as the same design motif of a lion swimming in the waves. The same struggle that the American colonies would start against British rule almost two centuries later.