# Duit > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Duit > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Duit.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duit > Source revision: 1356991005 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Dutch coin}} {{about|the Dutch coin|the extinct Chibcha language|Duit language}} {{distinguish|Duits}} {{More citations needed|date=December 2009}} [[File:VOC duit.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Copper duit coin from 1735, with the [VOC](/source/Dutch_East_India_Company) [monogram](/source/monogram) on the obverse and the crowned coat of arms of the [Province of Holland](/source/Holland) on the reverse.]] The '''duit''' ({{IPA|nl|ˈdœyt|pron}}) (plural: ''duiten''; {{langx |en| doit}}{{oed | doit}} - "A small Dutch coin formerly in use, the eighth part of a stiver, or the half of an English farthing; hence (chiefly in negative phrases) as the type of a very small or trifling sum.") was an old low-value [Dutch](/source/Netherlands) [copper](/source/copper) [coin](/source/coin).{{cite book |date=1984 |title= [Van Dale](/source/Van_Dale) Groot woordenboek der Nederlandse taal (Eerste deel) |url= |location= Utrecht/Antwerpen |publisher= Van Dale Lexicografie |language= nl |page= 678 |isbn= 90-6648-402-0}} Struck in the 17th and 18th centuries {{cite book |last1 = Hazlitt |first1 = William Carew |author-link1 = William Carew Hazlitt |year = 1897 |title = Supplement to the Coinage of the European Continent |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Xa5AAAAAYAAJ |publication-place = London |publisher = Swan Sonnenschein |page = 63 |access-date = 14 April 2024 |quote = The earliest duit which we have seen is of 1614; and there is also a separate colonial series down at least to 1794. }} in the territory of the [Dutch Republic](/source/Dutch_Republic), it became an international currency.{{cite encyclopedia |year= 1947 |title= Duit |encyclopedia= Winkler Prins Encyclopaedie |publisher= [Elsevier](/source/Elsevier) |language= nl |location= Amsterdam/Brussels |isbn= }}{{sfn|Shimada|2006|p= 94}} It held significant importance in both Dutch domestic and colonial trade, particularly in the [Dutch East Indies](/source/Dutch_East_Indies) (modern-day Indonesia). The coin had the nominal value of 1/8 [stuiver](/source/stuiver). == Etymology == Etymologically, the word duit comes from [Middle Dutch](/source/Middle_Dutch) and means a type of small coin. == History == [[File:Duit_1769_-_Netherlands_(Zeeland).jpg|thumb|left|Duit from [Zeeland](/source/Zeeland) (1769)]] The [Dutch East India Company](/source/Dutch_East_India_Company) (VOC) commissioned a special coin with a monogram [engraved](/source/engraved) on it in order to prevent [smuggling](/source/smuggling). The coin was first minted during the 17th century in the [Dutch Republic](/source/Dutch_Republic) and was issued in the [Netherlands](/source/Netherlands) until the year 1816, when it was replaced by cents and ½ cents. Later it became an internationalized currency and was also issued in the [Dutch East Indies](/source/Dutch_East_Indies), [Dutch Ceylon](/source/Dutch_Ceylon), and [Dutch Malabar](/source/Dutch_Malabar).{{sfn|Shimada|2006|p=94}} Only these types of coins were valid for use in colonial-era [Indonesia](/source/Indonesia), where it was issued by the Dutch East India Company from the beginning till the end of the 18th century.{{sfn|Shimada|2006|p= 96}}{{cite web |url=https://anmm.emuseum.com/objects/15851/duit-issued-for-the-netherlands-east-indies-by-the-voc-vere |title=Duit issued for the Netherlands East Indies by the VOC (Vereenigde Oost- Indische Compagnie) |publisher=[Australian National Maritime Museum](/source/Australian_National_Maritime_Museum) |access-date=April 3, 2025}} The biggest destination for duit coins was [Java](/source/Java).{{sfn|Shimada|2006|p=94}} The duit was also used in parts of the Americas while under Dutch rule, such as [New Amsterdam](/source/New_Amsterdam) (present-day New York City) and [Suriname](/source/Surinam_(Dutch_colony)), and in Africa in the [Dutch Cape Colony](/source/Dutch_Cape_Colony). The coin's name was preserved in the Netherlands for a long time as ''vierduitstuk'' (or 'plak'{{OED|plack}}), because it was worth 4 duiten = half a stuiver (or 2½ cents).{{cite encyclopedia |year=1949 |title=Duit |encyclopedia=De Kleine Winkler Prins. Encyclopedie van A tot Z |publisher=[Elsevier](/source/Elsevier) |language=nl |location=Amsterdam |isbn= }} == Nominal value == According to its usage in the Netherlands, 8 duiten are equivalent to a [stuiver](/source/stuiver) and 160 duiten are equivalent to a [guilder](/source/Dutch_guilder). When this value was applied in the Dutch East Indies colony in 1726, it was equivalent to a quarter of a stuiver (i.e. 4 duit = 1 stuiver). == Weight and composition == ;Weight Various standards existed, with official weights of:{{cite web |url=https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces105317.html |title=Duit |publisher=Numista |access-date=April 3, 2025}} * 4.24 grams from 1590 * 3.93 grams in later periods ;Composition Originally duit coins were minted in copper, but [proof coinage](/source/proof_coinage) of the duit was also minted in [silver](/source/silver) and [gold](/source/gold).{{Cite web|url = http://members.chello.nl/c.vanderley/|title = Verouderd, antiek of achterhaald | Klantenservice | Ziggo|date = 3 January 2022|access-date = 6 May 2010|archive-date = 7 June 2011|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110607014109/http://members.chello.nl/c.vanderley/|url-status = live}} == Dutch expressions == The [Dutch language](/source/Dutch_language) has many expressions, [proverb](/source/proverb)s and sayings which feature the word ''duit'', including: * "Putting a doit in the bag" ({{lang|nl|Een duit in het zakje doen}}) – to contribute a little something * "He is a doit-thief." ({{lang|nl|Hij is een duitendief}}) – he is a miser. * "He has a lot of kaka, but not many doits." ({{lang|nl|Hij heeft veel kak, maar weinig duiten}}) – he is a braggart. * "To have courage like a three-doit haddock" ({{lang|nl|Moed hebben als een schelvis van drie duiten}}) – to be cowardly * "To give someone four doits back" ({{lang|nl|Iemand van vier duiten weerom geven}}) – to tell someone the truth ==Legacy== As the monetary unit was widespread throughout the Malay archipelago, the word {{wikt-lang|ms|duit}} eventually was absorbed into [Malay](/source/Malay_language) vocabulary becoming a synonym for 'money' besides ''wang'' ([Malaysian](/source/Malaysian_language) spelling) and ''uang'' ([Indonesian](/source/Indonesian_language) spelling). Malaysia's own national [contactless payment system](/source/QR_code_payment) is named [DuitNow](/source/Payments_Network_Malaysia). The Duit is also used in [Dutch India](/source/Dutch_India) making ''Duttu'' ([துட்டு](/source/%3Ata%3A%E0%AE%A4%E0%AF%81%E0%AE%9F%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%9F%E0%AF%81)) a slang for low denomination money in [Tamil.](/source/Tamil_language) The duit is also referred to as the "New York penny" due to its use as a Colonial monetary unit in Dutch New Amsterdam (later New York) and for years later, long after Dutch rule had passed.{{cite web |url=https://www.scotsman.com/hays-way/metal-detectorists-mind-blowing-mary-queen-of-scots-1500s-coin-and-other-remarkable-discoveries-5086347 |title=Metal detectorist's 'mind-blowing' Mary, Queen of Scots coin |publisher=[The Scotsman](/source/The_Scotsman) |date= April 17, 2025 |access-date=May 5, 2025}} The Duit circulated also in the [duchy of Cleves](/source/duchy_of_Cleves) and [Guelders](/source/Guelders), which may be the reason why in the 18th century the expression ''kein Deut'' entered the German language, meaning ''not a bit''.{{cite web|title=Duden – Deut – Rechtschreibung, Bedeutung, Definition, Herkunft|periodical=Duden.de|url=https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Deut|accessdate=2018-07-22|language=German|archive-date=2023-02-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204140551/https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Deut|url-status=live}} == Bibliography == {{Refbegin}} * {{cite book|language=en|last=Shimada|first=Ryūto|title=The Intra-Asian Trade in Japanese Copper by the Dutch East India Company During the Eighteenth Century|year=2006|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nVIPPwVo8eAC&pg=PA94|publisher=[Brill](/source/Brill_Publishers)|location=Leiden|isbn=90-04-15092-7|access-date=2018-06-11|archive-date=2024-02-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240208085225/https://books.google.com/books?id=nVIPPwVo8eAC&pg=PA94#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}} {{refend}} ==References== {{Portal|Money|Numismatics}} {{Reflist}} == External links== * {{Commons category-inline||Duit}} {{wiktionary | duit}} {{Currency and coinage of the Netherlands}} Category:Copper coins Category:Coins of the Netherlands Category:Guilder Category:Dutch Republic Category:Dutch East India Company Category:Dutch Cape Colony Category:Dutch Ceylon Category:Dutch India Category:Coins of the Dutch East Indies Category:Coins of Sri Lanka --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Duit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duit) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duit?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.