By coinjoe on Skatehive
Got one in the mail a while back. A 1672 Leeuwendaalder from the Dutch Republic. Almost 400 years old and it landed in my mailbox in Indiana. Still blows my mind when that happens. The leeuwendaalder translates to "Lion Dollar" in English. And if that word sounds familiar, it should. This coin is one of the reasons we call our currency the dollar. It circulated in the American colonies and the name stuck. The lion on this coin also gave its name to the currencies of Romania, Moldova, Albania, and Bulgaria. Their words for their money, leu, lek, and lev, all mean lion in their respective languages. The obverse shows an armored knight standing with his head turned right. He's wearing a plumed helmet and holding a ribbon attached to a shield with a rampant lion on it. The Latin inscription around the edge translates to "Silver money of the confederated Netherlands." The reverse features a rampant lion facing left with the date 1672 split at the top. The Latin inscription translates to "He