SCHEEPJESGULDEN OR SHIP'S GUILDER

In 1795 the Cape was captured by a British fleet and for the first time British gold and copper coins were officially imported. In 1802, following the Peace of Amiens, Britain handed the colony back to the Netherlands, but in 1806 retook it.

 It was Commissioner-General de Mist who was responsible for the minting of the first coins. During the brief Dutch repossession of the Cape, the mint of Enkhuizen in Holland struck the first coinage to be made for the colony. A total of 100 000 silver scheepjesguldens  in denominations of 1/16, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2 and 1 guilder, dated 1802 were struck. Copper doits in denominations of 1/16^th and 1/32^nd of a guilder were also sent to the Cape.  After the British reoccupation a supply of the two smallest denominations ship coins were issued in 1806 for local use.

The 1 guilder and the copper coins were apparently never circulated at the Cape to any large extent. Most of the coins were forwarded to the Batavian Republic, Indonesia where they were declared legal tender.

The obverse of the silver guilders depicts an image of a three-massed ship on a stormy sea, encircled by a rope with the words “indiae bata vorum”.

The reverse bore the denomination and the crowned lion shield of the United Netherlands in a rope circle. The legend contains the name of the province in which the coins had been minted. The copper doits also depicts the crowned lion shield on the obverse and “indiae bata vorum“on the reverse.

Silver and gold specimens of the 1-, ½- and ¼ guilders are extremely rare. Varieties of all the denominations do exist.

The scheepjesgulden or ship’s guilder may be regarded as the first true South-African coin.