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, partic ...

-sized silver coin of the 16th-18th centuries. The first ducaton-type coin was the scudo known as the 'ducatone da soldi cento' (of 100

soldi "Soldi" (; ) is a song recorded by Italian singer Mahmood. It was released on 6 February 2019, as the fifth single from his debut studio album, ''Gioventù bruciata'' (2019). Mahmood co-wrote the song with Dario "Dardust" Faini and Charlie Cha ...

), issued by

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, french: Charles Quint, it, Carlo V, nl, Karel V, ca, Carles V, la, Carolus V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (Crown of Castile, Castil ...

, 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 Brabant is a traditional geographical region (or regions) in the Low Countries of Europe. It may refer to: Place names in Europe * London-Brabant Massif, a geological structure stretching from England to northern Germany Belgium * Province of Bra ...

and

Tournai Tournai or Tournay ( ; ; nl, Doornik ; pcd, Tornai; wa, Tornè ; la, Tornacum) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It lies southwest of Brussels on the river Scheldt. Tournai is part of Euromet ...

comprising 32.48 grams of 0.944 silver depicting

Albert Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia * Albert Productions, a record label * Alber ...

and

Isabella Isabella may refer to: People and fictional characters * Isabella (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Isabella (surname), including a list of people Places United States * Isabella, Alabama, an unincorpor ...

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 ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...

. As a

trade coin Trade coins are coins minted by a government, but not necessarily legal tender within the territory of the issuing country. These quasi bullion coins (in rarer cases small change) were thus actually export goods - that is, bullion in the form of co ...

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 ( es, Real de a ocho, , , 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 ...

. It was valued at 60

stuiver The stuiver was a coin used in the Netherlands, worth Dutch Guilders ( 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 ...

Silver rider

See also