1755 Coin US Colonial VOC New York PENNY westfrisia

Manhattan was discovered in 1609 (believe it or not, on September 11, 1609) by Henry Hudson, commander of the VOC ship, the Half Moon. The province of New Netherland (which later became the State of New York) was created in 1624. Its capital was New Amsterdam, which lay on the southern tip of Manhattan— “purchased” from the Indians by Peter Minuit for $24 in trade goods. Of course, the Indians had no concept of land ownership, and only later discovered what the Dutch had in mind when they were handing out trinkets. Because the Dutch were instrumental in the early development of New York, Dutch coinage joined the Spanish, Portuguese, and British coins that were used for daily transactions all over the American colonies. One of the coins used in old New York was the VOC copper duit, now popularly known as the “original New York penny.”