twintig stuiver, noodmunt uit Breda, geslagen tijdens het beleg door Spinola 1625

This silver coin, or rather a ‘necessity coin’, was made anonymously in Breda during the siege by Spinola. It is made of silver. But notice its unusual, lozenge shape. Coins are normally round to symbolize their exchange value, and that brings us to the material reality of this object. As the city was under siege, the usual ways of doing things were disrupted. Silver was in short supply, and so the coin was made as small as possible, yet still stamped with the city’s seal to guarantee its value. The very irregularity of the coin gives us a clue: this wasn't business as usual. It was money of desperation. The crude form would have been easy enough to produce, a simple way to cut, weigh, and stamp silver. Far from the smooth, polished surfaces that we associate with wealth and trade, this coin tells a story of conflict, survival, and resilience. It reminds us that even something as conventional as money can be reshaped by circumstance.