Kolonie Veenhuizen, huismunt geslagen op last van de Maatschappij van Weldadigheid ter waarde van 1 cent 1818 - 1859

This is a coin from the Veenhuizen penal colony, commissioned by the Society of Benevolence. These coins tell a story of social engineering in the 19th century. Veenhuizen was one of seven “free colonies” established to combat poverty in the Netherlands, but it quickly became a place of forced labor for orphans, beggars, and vagrants. This one-cent coin was used internally, controlling the colonists' economic activity and limiting their interactions with the outside world. Consider the implications of such a system on individual identity, especially how concepts of freedom, labor, and dependency were redefined within the colony’s borders. What does it mean to create a society designed to rehabilitate but that instead became a system of control? This coin is a stark reminder of the complexities inherent in attempts to address societal problems, as well as the emotional and personal toll exacted by institutional control.