Numismatic

2025 Netherlands 1 oz Silver Parrot Duit PR-70 PCGS (FS)

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A captivating piece of monetary history comes to life in this modern silver release, which recreates the famous 1679 Parrot Duit. Struck from one ounce of 0.999 fine silver, this non-legal-tender issue is produced by the Royal Dutch Mint to commemorate a major milestone: the fiftieth anniversary of the independence of Suriname. The design pays homage to the very first coinage associated with Suriname, where parrots were selected as the central motif. The obverse showcases a detailed parrot perched upon a leafy branch, a design that originally carried a very practical meaning. On the historic copper coins, which measured about 20 millimeters across, the number of leaves on the branch (ranging from one to four) indicated the coin's value in stuivers. This valuation was directly tied to trade, where each stuiver corresponded to a single pound of sugar. A branch with one leaf represented one stuiver, two leaves meant two stuivers, and four leaves equaled four stuivers. On the reverse, the coin features an elegant, decorative ornamental tree alongside official Dutch mint marks. With a strict mintage limit of just 5,000 pieces, this official restrike offers a brilliant window into seventeenth-century colonial commerce, where tropical wildlife and agricultural commodities dictated the terms of daily trade.