The duit (plural: ''duiten''; en , doit) was a copper Dutch coin worth 2 ''penning'', with 8 duit pieces equal to one ''

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 ...

'' and 160 duit pieces equal to one ''gulden''. In Dutch Indonesia 4 duit pieces were equal to one ''

''. To prevent smuggling, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) ordered special coins with the company monogram embossed upon them. Only those pieces were valid in Indonesia. The duit was once used in the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

in areas under Dutch rule. The name of the coin was preserved for a long time in the 'fourduitcoin' (or 'plak'), because it was worth 4 duiten = half a stuiver (or 2.5 cents). The

Dutch language Dutch ( ) is a West Germanic language spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million as a second language. It is the third most widely spoken Germanic language, after its close relatives German and English. ''Afrikaans'' ...

has many expressions, proverbs and sayings which feature the word 'duit'. * "Putting a duit in the bag" () – to contribute something * "He is a duit-thief" () – he is very greedy * "He has much shit, but little duit" () – he is a boaster * "To be courageous like a three-duit haddock" () – to be cowardly * "To give someone of four duit back" () – to tell someone the truth

Influence

The single largest recipient of Dutch ''duit'' coins was Java.

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

and

Malabar Malabar may refer to the following: People * Malabars, people originating from the Malabar region of India * Malbars or Malabars, people of Tamil origin in Réunion Places * Malabar Coast, or Malabar, a region of the southwestern shoreline o ...

did also circulate the coins. As the monetary unit was widespread throughout the Malay archipelago, the word ''duit'' eventually was absorbed into

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

vocabulary becoming a slang word for 'money' besides ''wang'' (

Malaysian Malaysian may refer to: * Something from or related to Malaysia, a country in Southeast Asia * Malaysian Malay, a dialect of Malay language spoken mainly in Malaysia * Malaysian people, people who are identified with the country of Malaysia regar ...

spelling) and ''uang'' ( Indonesian spelling). The duit is also referred to as the "New York penny" due to its use as a Colonial monetary unit in Dutch New Amsterdam (later New York) and for years later, long after Dutch rule had passed. It was part of the coinage used to purchase the island of Manhattan from the locals. The Duit circulated also in the duchy of Cleves and

Guelders The Duchy of Guelders ( nl, Gelre, french: Gueldre, german: Geldern) is a historical duchy, previously county, of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the Low Countries. Geography The duchy was named after the town of Geldern (''Gelder'') in pr ...

, which may be the reason why in the 18th century the expression ''kein Deut'' entered the German language, meaning ''not a bit''. Duit (''Duttu'') is a slang fo
low denomination money
in Tamil.

Non-copper duit

In addition to copper, proof coinage of the duit was also minted in silver and gold.

References

Coins of the Netherlands Indonesian words and phrases Malay words and phrases Coins of Sri Lanka {{Coin-stub