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Luce Center
Dutch Lion dollar
(Obverse) stamped with armored knight looking over his shoulder and standing behind a shield decorated with rampant lion standard; knight framed by two rows of circular lozenges. Within lozenge frame is text, “MO · ARG · PRO · CONFOE · BEL· TRA”. (Reverse) Stamped with rampant lion framed in two circular rows of lozenges; frame inscribed “1647” and Latin phrase, “CONFIDENS · DNO · NON · MOVETVR." Not uniformly round and appears to have been clipped.
This Dutch coin is known as a leeuwendaalder, or lion dollar. Lion dollars circulated through Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and New World between 1575 and 1713. The coins were minted for export trade, and were lighter and cheaper to produce than other large-denomination coins of the period. In addition, they were made of an alloy containing less silver than other coins: 75% silver and 25% copper alloy. This lesser alloy meant that the coins were less valuable then others in circulation during the period, making them ideal for trade. The extensive use of lion dollars in trade insured their spread across continents. Unsurprisingly, lion dollars were used in Dutch New Amsterdam during the seventeenth century.
