Zeeuwse zilveren dukaat, 1792 1792

Editor: This is a Zeeuwse silver ducat from 1792, produced by the Province of Zeeland. It’s a pretty worn piece, and it has a weighty, historical feel. What stands out to you? Curator: What grabs my attention is how this coin encapsulates the confluence of labor, materiality, and symbolic value. The silver itself wasn’t conjured from thin air, consider the extraction process. What was it? Who performed it? And how does the production impact the price of the object? Editor: Right, it must have involved significant mining efforts to get the silver in the first place, so that’s an important historical step to consider. Curator: Exactly! Now think about the design: The method of imprinting the image onto the silver. This process reveals technological advancements of the time, alongside economic ones; labor organization. Whose hands designed and produced the tools to make these coins? Were there any exploitative practices? What about the depicted image: How is its imagery consumed? Editor: So, it's more than just a coin. The embossed figure stands tall with what seems to be a crown over an emblem of Zeeland, a heraldic lion emerging from the waves, making it clear the region wanted this symbol reproduced. Curator: Precisely. Each detail, from the raw material to the final impression, tells a story of social context and the value that the means of its making possesses. It's an item reflecting on labour that can create a national image and bolster ideas of sovereignty! So what new thing do you now take from this single coin? Editor: That is truly fascinating! The journey from raw material to finished product becomes a lens to see the whole society. I’ll certainly think about value and labor in new ways!