Holland Penny

The most intriguing fact about the Holland Penny is that it was frequently clipped or altered by users to stretch its value, a practice that turned many into irregular scraps rather than pristine coins.

Struck from copper alloys in the Low Countries, these pennies emerged around the 14th century under the counts of Holland, serving as everyday currency for markets and taxes. Weighing roughly one gram, they bore simple designs—often a crude cross on one side and a lion or shield on the other—reflecting the era's limited minting technology. Records are sparse, with much detail lost to time; we know production varied by region, but exact figures from specific years remain a mystery, likely consumed by medieval fires or neglect.

Not every Holland Penny survived intact; corrosion from soil burial claimed countless examples, leaving modern finds as rare as a straight answer from an old ledger.