Overijssel Copper Penny

Overijssel's copper pennies were minted using planchets sometimes recycled from older foreign coins, a practical nod to the era's metal shortages.

These coins, struck between 1600 and 1795, featured simple designs with the provincial arms on one side and a date or denomination on the other. Production occurred in local mints under the States of Overijssel, reflecting the Dutch Republic's decentralized currency system. Most were worth a fraction of a stuiver, making them essential for small transactions in markets and farms.

Exact mintage figures remain murky; records from that period often burned in later fires or simply vanished. Still, thousands likely entered circulation each year, only to wear down quickly from constant use.

As for counterfeits, they were common enough to irk officials, though enforcing quality control proved futile in a region more focused on trade winds than coin purity. Don't expect these pennies to dazzle like guilders; their real value lay in the everyday.