In the late 17th century a new Dutch cargo ship was launched. It was a fully-rigged ship with three masts and square sails. The hull had a relatively flat bottom with broad beams, and a rounded stern (some say pear-shaped). The largest fluyts were about 300 tons and 80 feet long. They sailed well into the next century.
These ships were economical to build and could be manned by a small crew, perhaps a dozen mariners. Consequently, they were not heavily armed. But some fluyts had guns, particularly as pirates quickly learned that the fluyts were easy targets.
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| Twelve-skilling from Danish West Indies. Is this ship a fluyt? |
Today we examine a 12-skilling piece from the Danish West Indies (DWI). It is small coin (just a bit larger than a dime at 3.2g) made of .500 silver. It was a cheap alternative to the Spanish real that was the same size but made of finer silver.
Skillings circulated in islands of St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix (now the U.S. Virgin Islands). The Danes initially settled on St. Thomas in 1666, but established a fort there in 1671 when the DWI was first chartered.
Many of these skillings have been dug along the east coast of North America, so the coin is considered part of the American colonial series. Consequently, they are popular among collectors (especially as the legend includes "Americansk"). Most specimens are quite used up, as they were popular back then too. Twelve-skilling pieces like this one were produced across four years: 1757, 1763, 1764, 1765. Other denominations minted about the same time (six and twenty-four skillings) show the ship too.
So is the ship on the coin actually a fluyt? It is hard to say. It is a fully rigged ship with broad beams. The stern shows a slight curvature that is suggestive of a fluyt, but it is a judgment call. If it is a fluyt, then this is one of the few coins to show a Danish one.
Another alternative: The ship could be the Fridericus Quartus. This was a ship of the line with many guns. The ship on the coin shows gun ports -- big guns! A fluyt might have a few, but they would be more prominent on a first-rate ship. This is a mystery. If you can solve it, let me know.
Of note, the Fridericus Quartus did serve as a cargo ship. I found a reference to it that described its cargo in 1761. It returned from St. Thomas with 711 barrels of raw sugar, 10 barrels of cotton, 8 barrels of rum, plus 11 casks and 23 sacks of coffee. This cargo accurately describes the products of the DWI. The closeness of the date to our featured coins makes this ship a contender.
In any case, I think every old sails collector needs one of these. They are available but hard to find with the topsails clear of the fog.
