VOC monogram, rosette mintmark (for Dodrecht), date below (1753) / Crowned arms of Holland. Issued in Holland for circulation in the Dutch East Indies (modern Indonesia). 18mm, 1.37 grams. Dodrecht mint. Krause KM#72. 1/2 duits were not issued regularly and are much scarcer than the 1 duit coins. In 1596, a four-ship expedition led by Cornelis de Houtman was the first Dutch contact with Java. By the end of the 18th century the Dutch had extended their influence over the sultanates of the interior (see Dutch East India Company in Indonesia). Internal conflict prevented the Javanese from forming effective alliances against the Dutch. Remnants of the Mataram survived as the Surakarta (Solo) and Yogyakarta principalities. Javanese kings claimed to rule with divine authority and the Dutch helped them to preserve remnants of a Javanese aristocracy by confirming them as regents or district officials within the colonial administration.
