Gelderland Brass Token

During the Napoleonic Wars, Gelderland's emergency brass tokens were hastily struck from recycled metal scraps, often including old buttons and hardware, to keep trade flowing when proper coins vanished.

These tokens, issued between 1800 and 1810, served as provincial currency in a region gripped by occupation and economic chaos. They mimicked the design of standard Dutch coins but lacked the finesse, with irregular edges and variable weights that reflected the urgency of their creation. Mintage figures remain unclear; records from that era were likely destroyed in later conflicts.

One oddity: some tokens show traces of verdigris, turning them an unflattering green—nature's way of aging what was never meant to last.