The First New York Penny

This coin is famous because it is similar to those used at the time when the Dutch bought Manhattan from the Native Americans for $24 in 1626.

New York was a Dutch colony, so it was not unusual to find this coin in  New York City. The coin is known as a Duit and is renowned as the original New York Penny.  It was struck between 1726 and 1794 at several different locations in Holland.

It is displayed in a custom presentation with information about the coin and New York in the 1700s. The Duit was a standard coin denomination in Holland. Because of its size and copper composition, the Duit was known as a Penny.

The copper Duit was issued by the Dutch East India Company, which owned large commercial ventures in India and southeast Asia. The Dutch East India Company was one of the worlds largest businesses in the 1700s, and the Duit was a way to control commerce in its company stores and company towns overseas. There were no national coins in these areas, so the copper Duit circulated instead. 

The initials VOC on one side of the coin stand for Dutch East India Company. The other side of the coin shows the coat of arms of the Dutch province where the coin was struck. The Duit was also found throughout the colonies in the New World, because there was no national mint in America.  Instead, colonists used coins from around the world. $24 in 1626 was the equivalent of 9,600 Duits.

Comes with a Certificate of Authenticity.