4 VOC Dutch East Indies Co Copper Duits Coins,1700's with Certificate & Album  

‘The United Dutch East India Company-Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC) was established in 1602 with the aim of sending ships to Asia to buy pepper and spices. The VOC developed into a multinational entity with branches in a dozen Asian countries. By the mid-18th century the company employed 36,000 people. It built its own ships, some 1,500, which in total made over 5,000 journeys to Asia, where a network of trading posts were founded from the Persian Gulf to the China Sea. The company was granted sovereign powers: it minted currency, occupied territories and maintained an armada of warships and a small army, 10,000 strong, to defend its territories, facilities and ships. It was the first company ever to sell stock shares, and was arguably the most powerful enterprise of its kind in all of history. However, emerging British domination of the sea eventually took its toll. It took a Dutch ship three to six months to travel from Holland to Batavia. Pirates, storms, treacherous waters and warfare took their toll on these tall ships. More than 250 were lost during the two centuries the VOC operated, scattering countless treasure to the bottom of the shipping lanes from East Asia to northern Europe. This fact prompted curiosity about the origins of the specific group of copper duit coins from which these were selected.