Claim your power with a rampant lion - the famed silver Double Wapenstuiver in a sterling silver pendant...

Like Walt Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean, the Dutch and British East India Trading Companies ruled the seas from 1600 to the mid 1800s...

Please Note: This is an authentic Dutch East India Company Treasure Coin, and you will receive the exact pendant in the photographs and description.

FOR PENDANT SIZE SEE COIN DETAILS BELOW

In colonial days, the port of Galle, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), served as a natural staging point on the sea route linking Europe, Africa and Arabia to the riches of the Orient. This maritime road was known as the Spice Route.

These coins were recovered by Cannon Beach Treasure Company owner Robert Lewis Knecht from the area around Galle Fort and in Galle Harbor, Sri Lanka. How they got there is a fascinating story…

Your VOC Trade Coin:

• Denomination: 2 Stuiver (Double Wapenstuiver)
• Date: 1745
• Mint: Zeeland, Netherlands
• Latin Motto of Swimming Lion: I Struggle and Survive
• Coin Metal: Silver
• Bezel Metal: 14K Gold
• Articulating Nautical Shackle Bail Interior Diameter: Will accommodate chain or leather necklace up to 6.2mm
• Pendant Size including bezel:  1" Across, 1 3/8” Tall - The width of a quarter 
  

Robert's Notes: This beautiful coin is in amazing condition. It only survived in this amazing condition due to being hidden for hundreds of years. It features a beautiful jeweled crown and Rampant Lion.

LATIN MOTTO: Large parts of Zeeland are below sea level. Their coat of arms is the swimming lion meaning in Latin: LUCTOR ET EMERGO: “I struggle and emerge, or survive.”

The Portuguese first established a trading post in 1505. In 1640, the Dutch East India fleet arrived with 2,000 soldiers and took control the island. During the Dutch era, Galle’s fortifications were expanded to what they are today. The Dutch East India Company, with its “VOC” emblazoned on its possessions (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie or VOC in old-spelling Dutch, literally “United East Indian Company”), then controlled the Spice Route and access to the famed treasures of the East.

This silver 2 stuiver was recovered many years ago from around Galle Fort, Sri Lanka, when Robert was producing and filming in Sri Lanka working on the Taj Mahal Sunken Treasure project with Sir Arthur C. Clarke. 

The 2 stuiver (stiver) is called a double wapenstuiver. You will also see shipwreck VOC copper duits on this site, too. Eight copper duits equal 1 stuiver. Interesting historical note: Duits have been found in New York and along the East Coast, and are also called New York Pennies as the Dutch first settled and named what is now New York (of course, they called it New Amsterdam back then).

Your VOC Pendant Comes Complete with:

1. Our 100% Authentic Lifetime Guarantee
2. A Detailed, Full Color, Multi-Page Photo Certificate of Authenticity Researched and Written by Robert Lewis Knecht, that teaches you how to read your coin
3. "Pieces of Eight" Historic Brief
4. Treasure Hunters Gazette Booklet
5. Mini Museum Display for when you are not wearing your treasure
6. A Treasure Jewelry Care Card

For More on the Taj Mahal Sunken Treasure... Watch these videos featuring Sir Arthur C. Clarke!