Double Golden Ducat 2025

The Golden Ducats have returned! The Royal Dutch Mint annually strikes the Gold Ducats, after originals from the 16th and 18th century, as commissioned by the Ministry of Finance. Since 2022, we have started the series “Dutch trading history” and this series comes to an end in 2025 with the latest Golden Ducat, which is about a very loved product that everyone knows: coffee. 

The Black Gold

The Golden Ducat 2025 is the fourth and final part in the series “Dutch trading history” and focuses on a very well-known and beloved product. Coffee is very popular worldwide and the history of this popular commodity goes back a long way.

The coffee bean was discovered in Ethiopia and brought to Yemen by merchants. There, the beans were further distributed across the Arabian Peninsula. In the 16th century, people in Europe also became acquainted with the coffee bean and in the 17th century it was the Dutch who became the first commercial coffee exporting country due to the cultivation of coffee plantations on Celebes and Sumatra. But the Netherlands was also a major player in the trading of coffee in Europe. Today, we drink an average of 2.4 cups of coffee per day in the Netherlands. Do you drink more or less?

Design

On the obverse of the Golden Ducat for 2025, you can read the engraved Latin phrase Concordia Res Parvae Crescunt: “Small things flourish by concord” or better known as “Unity makes Strength”. On the reverse the Latin Mo. Aur. Reg. Belgii Ad Legem Imperii is found: “Gold coin of the Kingdom of the Netherlands by law of the Empire”. On the left you can find the symbol for silk. On the reverse, a knight in armour can be discovered, designed by engraver Johan Willem Marmé. Marmé was the engraver of the provincial and urban Mint of Utrecht from 1763 until 1795.