Uitkering van het eerste dividend van 10% door de WIC 1683

This is a silver coin commemorating the West India Company's first dividend, its imagery speaking volumes about the era. On one side, we see a ship before a fortified harbor, symbols of trade and security. These images are potent emblems of Dutch maritime power. We have seen ships on coins and maps since antiquity, symbols of exploration and economic dominance. On the other side is a complex, sun-like design, with the roman number X, and the words 'West Indische Compagnie'. One can think of it as a wheel of fortune. The sun is not only a symbol of the classical god Apollo, but here also evokes a sense of radiating prosperity and success. The coin isn't just a currency but a psychological emblem of ambition and the complex legacy of colonial expansion. It serves as a potent reminder of how symbols carry cultural narratives, their meanings continually renegotiated through history.