Duit van Nederlands Indië uit Java,1806 1806

This copper coin was produced in 1806 in the Batavian Republic, for use in the colony of Nederlands Indie, or Java. At this time, the Dutch East India Company was bankrupt, and its territories were administered by the state. The image refers directly to the location in which the coin was legal tender, rather than the state which produced it. Such an emphasis was unusual at this time, and may reflect the social conditions in which it was produced. In the Netherlands, popular discontent with state control was growing, so it is possible that this coin reflects the institution's attempt to represent the colony in a direct and uncontaminated way, as a means of increasing its legitimacy. To understand this coin fully, we might explore the archives of the Dutch East India Company, and contemporary political pamphlets from the Batavian Republic. These resources help us to interpret a small object in relation to a wide set of social and institutional contexts.