Strafgevangenis Ommerschans, huismunt geslagen op last van de Maatschappij van Weldadigheid ter waarde van vijf cent before 1830

This anonymous coin, struck for the Ommerschans penal colony, presents a stark, minimalist form. The circular shape, roughly rendered, immediately suggests themes of containment and the cyclical nature of penal labor. The material's rough texture and dull grey hue evoke a sense of bleakness, amplified by the stamped numerals denoting its meager five-cent value. These markings, crude in their execution, underscore a system that reduces human worth to a quantifiable, almost dehumanized metric. The coin's very structure is a semiotic device, silently communicating the power dynamics within the prison. It challenges conventional notions of currency, serving not as a medium of exchange in a free market, but as a token of control within an isolated, controlled environment. Its aesthetic starkness underscores the philosophical implications of incarceration and social control.