![Dutch Republic, West Friesland, 'Hungarian' Ducat, 1599 [WC-547] - Image 2](https://colonialcoins.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/WC-547-1.jpg)
Description
Dutch Republic, the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands, Sub-Province of West Friesland, Gold ‘Hungarian-style’ Ducat (3.47g, 22mm), 1599, Hoorn mint. Obverse: Figure of King Ladislaus I of Hungary stands facing, crowned and in full armour and holding halberd in right hand and sword in left, inner beaded border and legend terminating with privy mark ‘cinquefoil’ surrounds, “DEVS FORTITVDO ET SPS NOST”. Reverse: Coat of Arms of the Province of West Friesland surmounted by royal crown, privy mark ‘cinquefoil’ above flanked by date, inner beaded border and legend surrounds, “MO· NO· AVR· DOMI· WEST FRISI·”. Delmonte-833; Verkade-59.1; KM-8. Some typical flatness of strike and some slight rustiness to die, an attractive piece otherwise, good Very Fine.
The obverse Latin legend reads unabridged as “Deus fortitūdō et spēs nostrā”, with an English translation of “God is our strength and hope”. The reverse Latin legend reads unabridged as “monēta nova aureā domini West-Frisiae”, with an English translation of “New Gold Money of the Domain of West Friesland”.
The gold monetary denomination of the ‘Ducat’ has a long history in Europe. It was first struck by the Republic of Venice in the 13th century AD and was designed with a weight standard similar to the newly introduced Florin of the Republic of Florence and the Genovino of the Republic of Genoa, both of which weighed 3.50 grams of 98.6% fine gold. In the case of the Venetian Ducat, the intended weight was 3.545 grams of 99.47% fine gold, the highest purity medieval metallurgy could produce, and therefore contained a fine gold content of 3.5262 grams. In the early 16th Century, Ducats of the Venetian standard were recognized throughout the Holy Roman Empire by Emperor Charles V, and later, by his successor Emperor Ferdinand I, were brought to Hungary. The design of the Hungarian ducat was copied by the united provinces of the newly formed Dutch Republic and were struck for several years in the late 16th Century AD (an example of which is offered here) before being replaced with the iconic Dutch Knight Ducat in 1586 AD. These ducats, like its predecessors of the same name, would go on to become a highly influential international gold trade coin. Due to this recognizability, it was one of the monetary denominations chosen by Philip Gidley King, the Governor of New South Wales, for the Australian Money Proclamation of 1800 – Australia’s first monetary system. In order to retain coinage within the Australian colonies, each ‘Proclamation coin’ was given a high face value – the Dutch Republic Ducat was revalued to Nine Shillings Six Pence.
