Today, Hugo Grotius travelled through time to officially hand the Silver Ducat “Loevestein Castle” over to Ed Dumrese, the director of the castle. This year, Loevestein Castle celebrates the Hugo Grotius Year. It has been 400 years since the writer and jurist escaped from the castle, which then functioned as a prison.
As a lawyer and diplomat, Grotius argued for tolerance towards dissenters and believed that the influence of the church in state affairs should be limited. This directly contradicted the opinion of stadtholder Maurits of Orange, who had Grotius imprisoned in Loevestein Castle for his statements. In 1621, Grotius escaped from the castle in a book chest, with the help of his wife and maid. It is one of the most famous stories in Dutch history.Silver Ducat “Loevestein Castle”
The Silver Ducat “Loevestein Castle” is part of the series “Dutch Castles”. The obverse of the Silver Ducat “Loevestein Castle” depicts knight Godard de Ginkell in front of the famous castle. The province weapon of Gelderland can be found on his shield. The inscription on this issue reads: “MO.NO.ARG.REG.BELGII.GEL.”. “MO.NO.ARG.REG.BELGII.” is the Latin abbreviation for “Moneta Nova Argenta Regni Belgii”: New Silver coin of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. “GEL.” stands for the province of Gelderland. On the reverse of the Silver Ducat, the National coat of arms of the Netherlands with the Royal Crown between the numbers of the year can be found. The inscription reads: “CONCORDIA RES PARVAE CRESCUNT”, Unity makes Strength. The mint mark and privy mark can also be found on the reverse.
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