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

This is a 1 cent coin, commissioned by the Society of Beneficence for use in the Veenhuizen colony. The Society of Beneficence was a Dutch organization founded in 1818, aiming to combat poverty through the establishment of agricultural colonies. These colonies were essentially workhouses where the poor, vagrants, and orphans could be "re-educated" through labor and discipline. The coins, like this one, were used as internal currency, controlling the colonists’ economic interactions within the confines of the colony. The dehumanizing nature of the work is evident in the very existence of this alternative currency. It marks the members of Veenhuizen as 'other', outside of Dutch society and reliant on the colony for every basic need. As you reflect on the coin’s weight, remember its significance as a marker of social control, and a stark reminder of the complex relationship between poverty, labor, and social engineering.