Groningen Silver Penny

Groningen's silver pennies were struck during the province's brief flirtation with independence in the Eighty Years' War, often using silver scraps scavenged from melted-down jewelry and foreign coins.

That made them practical survivors in a chaotic era, with designs featuring the city's coat of arms—a rampant lion—pressed onto uneven flans that reflected the haste of wartime minting. We know these coins circulated widely in the northern Netherlands from 1580 to 1600, but exact production numbers? Those records burned in some forgotten blaze, likely during the conflicts.

As for myths, I've heard tales of them being cursed by Spanish priests. Nonsense; they were just currency for farmers and merchants. If you squint, the lion looks a bit like a tired cat after a long day.

Variations exist, some with off-center strikes that make grading a headache, but they're solid examples of early Dutch coinage.