The ducaton, ducatone or ducatoon was a

crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, parti ...

-sized silver coin of the 16th-18th centuries.

History

The first ducaton-type coin was the scudo known as the 'ducatone da soldi cento' (of 100

soldo The soldo was an Italian silver coin, issued for the first time in the late 12th century at Milan by Emperor Henry VI. The name derives from the late Roman coin '' solidus''. History It quickly became widespread in Italy, where it was coine ...

), issued by

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (as Charles I) from 1516 to 1556, and Lord of the Netherlands as titular Duke of Burgundy (as Charles II) ...

, in Milan in 1551. Ducatones were produced in greater numbers in numerous Italian states through the 17th century, spreading to other parts of the Spanish Empire, including Burgundy and the Netherlands - in 1618 the ducaton was produced in Brabant and

Tournai Tournai ( , ; ; ; , sometimes Anglicisation (linguistics), anglicised in older sources as "Tournay") is a city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Hainaut Province, Province of Hainaut, Belgium. It lies by ...

comprising 32.48 grams of 0.944 silver depicting Albert and Isabella.

Silver rider

In 1659 the Dutch states started production of the 'silver rider' ducaton, featuring a mounted knight on horseback. This design weighing 32.779 grams of 0.941 silver also featured the crowned arms of the United Netherlands on the reverse, with a shield below the knight indicating the province of minting. Rider ducatons were minted until 1798. In the period 1726-1751 ducatons were minted bearing the monogram of the

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( ; VOC ), commonly known as the Dutch East India Company, was a chartered company, chartered trading company and one of the first joint-stock companies in the world. Established on 20 March 1602 by the States Ge ...

. As a trade coin the familiar design of the Dutch rider helped it to compete against well-known world coins such as the

Spanish dollar The Spanish dollar, also known as the piece of eight (, , , or ), is a silver coin of approximately diameter worth eight Spanish reales. It was minted in the Spanish Empire following a monetary reform in 1497 with content fine silver. It w ...

. It was valued at 60

stuiver The stuiver was a coin used in the Netherlands, worth of a guilder (16 ''penning'' or 8 '' duit'', later 5 cents). It was also minted on the Lower Rhine region and the Dutch colonies. The word can still refer to the 5 euro cent coin, which ...

History

Silver rider

See also