Coin Profile: Remembering With a Restrike
From forbidden colonial token to ultra-rare gold issue, the Parrot duit returns as a striking tribute to Suriname’s 50 years of independence.
To mark the 50th anniversary of Surinamese independence on November 25, the Royal Dutch Mint issued a 2-ounce gold coin modeled on a 17th-century colonial issue, the Parrot duit of 1679. The 2-ounce version has a mintage of just 15 pieces and is part of a suite of coins that incorporate the imagery of the original coin.
A dozen years after the Dutch formally annexed a territory on the northern coast of South America that today comprises the nation of Suriname, the colonial government produced a series of bronze coins denominated in duits. These were small bronze coins worth ⅛ stuiver, issued by different mints and circulating in Dutch territories from the 17th century.
The Parrot duits were struck in Suriname under the authority of Governor Johannes Heinsius and circulated primarily as tokens denominated in pounds of sugar, a major commodity produced in the region. One-, 2-, and 4-duit coins were issued, depicting a parrot in a tree on the obverse. The denominations are differentiated by a digit around 12 o’clock above the devices, and by the number of leaves on the tree. The date appears in a recess beneath the tree, with letters “AM.” Some of the 17th-century duit coins were uniface; others had an ornamental tree on the reverse side. The 2025 issue takes the latter format.
Dozens of parrot species live in Suriname, though the design may be a nod to Governor Heinsius, who, according to some historians, kept parrots.
At the time of their production, the Parrit duits were illegal, though an edict of 1688 retroactively authorized them. In his 1953 book, “The Coins of the Dutch Overseas Territory 1603–1948,” C. Scholten explained, “The States General forbade this money, but in spite of that, by a placard of Apr. 6, 1688, Van Aerssen declared the coins current as Doits and they were brought back into circulation.”
Suriname gained independence from the Netherlands in 1975, after centuries of colonial rule. The 2025 duit coinage produced by the Royal Dutch Mint, marking the semicentennial, is quite a bit larger than its 17th-century original. Where the first bronze coinage measured 20 millimeters in diameter, the two-ounce gold version measures 38.7 millimeters. It is .9999 fine, with a serrated edge. Its design updates the two-sided 1679 4-duit coinage, adding the mint mark and the present-day Royal Dutch Mint master marks.
One- and 2-ounce silver, and a 1-ounce gold version of the Parrot duit are also on offer, struck to the same diameter and bearing the same design; the 2-ounce versions of both are thicker than their lighter counterparts.
The 2-ounce gold version is being offered for €8,999.95, including what the Royal Dutch Mint’s website describes as “luxurious packaging” and a numbered certificate of authenticity.
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