Brabant Copper Penny

Brabant copper pennies were often struck on planchets hammered from recycled metal, including scraps from old armor and artillery, a no-nonsense adaptation to the shortages of the Eighty Years' War.

That practical approach meant these coins saw heavy circulation across the Duchy, from Antwerp's markets to rural villages. Designs varied by ruler—some bore the rampant lion of Brabant, others the Habsburg eagle—but the core remained a simple, functional penny worth a fraction of a stuiver. Mintage figures are hazy; records from the period were spotty, and many burned in later conflicts.

What surprises me, after handling dozens, is how these pennies endured despite their thin copper. You'd think they'd vanish like pocket lint. Then again, in numismatics, survival often boils down to sheer luck.