Hoop op vrede in de Spaanse Nederlanden, rekenpenning van de raad van Financiën 1606

This is an anonymous 'Hope for Peace in the Spanish Netherlands' copper coin made by the Council of Finance. The image depicts a lion inside a fence accompanied by the phrase 'clausa recludit', suggesting the idea of opening what has been closed. It was circulated at a time when the Spanish Netherlands were struggling to free themselves from Spanish rule, which they finally achieved in 1648. As a small, easily circulated object, this coin testifies to the power of images to carry political messages, even without being officially commissioned works of art. Its imagery would have spoken to a desire for freedom from oppression and a hope for a more prosperous future. As historians, we can turn to a wide range of documentary sources to discover the hopes and fears of the people who made and used these coins and to better understand the social and political context of their production.