Netherlands Bread tokens

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Tokens for the poor

There is a long series of tokens for the poor issued by Dutch churches and monasteries in the 15th to 17th centuries. Some remain unidentified. Others are assigned to a town. A listing for the city of Leiden alone runs over 100 types and variants. Their use remains unclear. Most would likely have bought bread, but they may also have served for clothing, heating material or medical care. They may have circulated locally instead of money.

Welfare bread token issuers

The Amsterdam deaconry claims that its origin is in 1572. It is not clear what this claim is based on. Other sources mention 1578, a more likely date.

In 1568, a protestant rebellion started against the rule of the Habsburg kings. The rebellion quickly turned into a religious war (1568 - 1648) that carried on for eight decades. Amsterdam, with a conservative and catholic leadership, initially did not participate in the war. As the protestants gained ground, the city became increasingly isolated politically and - more important - economically.

By the Pacification of Ghent in 1576, the leader of the protestants, William the silent, prince of Orange, obtained the right to strengthen his position in cities if he could conclude an agreement (satisfactie) with the city authorities. The catholic city leadership of Amsterdam refused. In November 1577, an attempt to take the city for the protestants by surprise failed. The city leaders correctly saw this as a warning and signed a satisfactie in February 1578, remaining in power. It was too little too late. In May 1578, protestants took over in a bloodless coup, the alteratie. Protestant merchants, more concerned about trade and money than religion, replaced catholic nobility, the vocation of most churches was changed, monasteries became public buildings. Amsterdam would flourish as never before.

Diaconie.jpg

The religious change made a large hole in the city's welfare system, which had basically been a job of the catholic church. A protestant counterpart was needed. It was the deaconry of the protestants (photo: Stadsarchief Amsterdam, L.F. Dubourg Allegory on the charity of the Nederduits-Hervormde Diaconie. Supported by a woman with a feather in her hand, a cornucopia and an eagle, Charity, seated on clouds and two putti show an image from the story of the Good Samaritan to two orphans on the left and to a needy couple on the right. A third putto holds up a canvas depicting the preceding scene from the same story.) The mainstream Calvinists would soon face competition from a Lutheran deaconry. In the 16th century, deacons would either "offer comfort" to the sick, prisoners and strangers or collect and manage money for homes caring for the poor, orphanages and hospitals. The latter group was responsible for the tokens. They would typically be given after a church service, forcing the ambulant beneficiaries to attend church service, and be good for bread.

The protestant church underwent a number of name changes. At first known as Calvinists, they eventually called themselves the reformed church (reflecting their reforms from catholicism), using at first the Dutch term gereformeerd, after the Napoleonic occupation Nederduits hervormd, to stress an amount of unity with German protestants, Nederlands hervormd after the German occupation in the second world war and Protestant today.

Welfare bread tokens

Welfare bread tokens
NBWA1.jpg
Filename NBWA1
Side 1 Bread, marked DIA on table, date below. GEREFORMEERD DIACONIE BROOD (reformed deaconry bread).
Side 2 Seated Charity, left hand on lamb, right hand in gesture of giving. VERGENOEGD EN DANKBAER (content and grateful).
Material Lead, copper plug
Size (mm) 29
Weight (grams) 12.93
Notes Watchit.jpgNBWA1 varieties
Source Amsterdam museum
NBWA2b.jpg
Filename NBWA2
Side 1 Bread, marked DIA on table, date below. GEREFORMEERD DIACONIE BROOD (reformed deaconry bread).
Side 2 Seated Charity, left hand on lamb, right hand in gesture of giving. VERGENOEGD EN DANKBAER (content and grateful).
Material Lead, copper plug
Size (mm) 29
Weight (grams) 12.90
Notes Countermarked B Watchit.jpgNBWA2 varieties
Source Kooij
NBWA3.jpg
Filename NBWA3
Side 1 Two breads on table, 1861 below. BROODPENNING DER HERV. DIACONIE TE AMSTERDAM (Bread token of the reormed deaconry in Amsterdam).
Side 2 Seated Charity, left hand on lamb, right hand in gesture of giving. VERGENOEGD EN DANKBAAR (content and grateful).
Material Zinc
Size (mm) 28
Weight (grams) 6.29
Notes Watchit.jpgNBWA3 varieties
Source Amsterdam museum, David van der Kellen
NBWA4.jpg
Filename NBWA4
Side 1 Four breads on table, 1861 below. BROODPENNING DER HERV. DIACONIE TE AMSTERDAM (Bread token of the reformed deaconry in Amsterdam).
Side 2 Seated Charity, left hand on lamb, right hand in gesture of giving. VERGENOEGD EN DANKBAAR (content and grateful).
Material Zinc
Size (mm) 28
Weight (grams)
Notes
Source Kooij
NBWA5.jpg
Filename NBWA5
Side 1 Rubber stamp. D.I.A./BAKKERIJ/DER/NEDERD: HERV:/GEMEENTE/AMSTERDAM
Side 2 * / purple ink signature between lines / date below. Around: Met een loodje goed / voor een Roggebrood (Good for a rye bread when presented with a lead piece) - dark blue print.
Material Light brown carton
Size (mm) 43.5
Weight (grams)
Notes
Source Heritage May 2017 lot 1707
NBWA6.jpg
Filename NBWA6
Side 1 Seated Charity with arms of Amsterdam and cornucopia opposite standing naked man, wrapping himself in cloth. SALIGH ZYN DE BARMHERTIGE (blessed are the merciful). In the exergue DIA between decorative elements.
Side 2 Printer's mark K153 (Printer Beenders, Amsterdam)
Material Light brown carton
Size (mm) Oval
Weight (grams)
Notes Used during the second world war.
Source Allex Kussendrager: Het broodloodje van Amsterdam in De Muntkoerier 06 1979

Discount bread token issuers

De Jonge Amsterdam.jpg

Ad NBDA1: While the Weduwe J. de Jonge factory was originally in Nieuwezijds Armsteeg 2, Amsterdam (photo: Stadsarchief Amsterdam), there were bakery shops on Frederik Hendrikstraat 168 and Lepelstraat 7 (specialised in Jewish bread products). Around 1916, the city of Amsterdam forced the factory to move out of the city centre.

Ad NBDK1: Hendrikus Schomaker was born in Dedemsvaart on 13-08-1860. Place and date of his death are unknown. He married in Kampen in 1890 where his profession is listed as baker. The couple went to live in Vaassen and moved in 1893 or 94 to Kampen. Business must have been good. In 1895 Schomaker, calling himself master baker, placed an advertisement for a second salesperson in his bakery. In november 1897 the family moved to Amsterdam where his occupation was bread delivery man. In 1908 he left Amsterdam, destination not recorded, and there is no more information on him. As the tokens mention Kampen, they were likely issued in the period 1893/4 - 1897. Their purpose is unknown.

Ad NBDM1-33: Maastrichtse broodfabriek was established in 1878 on O.L.V. plein 18 in Maastricht by Johannes Hamers. Johannes died in 1914 and was succeeded by Martin Hamers. Shops opened under the name MABRO in rapid succession on O.L.V. plein 17, next to the factory entrance, Wijkerbrugstraat 37, Muntstraat 29, Voltastraat 22 and Koning Clovisstraat 3, all in Maastricht. A second factory opened in nearby Heerlen after the second world war. The shops had a delivery service, centralised at the factory, starting out with horse-drawn vehicles, replaced by three-wheeled cargo bicycles, in turn replaced by electric three-wheelers. Further business was obtained by franchises, bakery shops that no longer made their own bread.

In the 1970s, taste turned away from factory-produced bread and back to locally produced bread. MABRO seems to have been taken by surprise. They even tried selling holiday trips, but that was not a good answer. The Heerlen branch merged with the bread branch of local supermarket producer ODB (Our Daily Bread), to form VLB (United Bread factories of Limburg) in 1973. However, the bread combination went into receivership the year after. The MABRO factory in Maastricht lasted until 1980.

Ad NBDR1: Hermann Gottfried Behle was born on May 11, 1832 in Barmen (Germany). More research is necessary, but the Behle family were likely of German-Jewish origin. In 1880 he moved to Rotterdam where he was registered on November 11, 1880. He soon started a "Duitsche Bakkerij" (German Bakery) which was quite successful. His bread was sold by several other stores, one of them in Amsterdam. He also took part in exhibitions where he won prizes with his bread. He died on December 22, 1896 in Rotterdam.

His son Ewald started his own "Hollands en Duitsche Bakkerij" (Dutch and German Bakery) in 1893. He was even more successful than his father, his bakery growing into a bread factory. He died on October 23, 1953 in The Hague, 84 years of age. At that time he lived in Wassenaar, in a country house "Huize Paffendorf" (Paffendorf was the name of his mother).

On Saturday May 21, 1892 H.G. Behle opened a second bakery in The Hague. In the advertisement announcing the opening it is stated: "Bij het brood, afgehaald in den Winkel, ontvangt een ieder een Bon. 30 Bons geven recht op een gratis Brood" (with every bread bought in the store a ticket is given. 30 of these tickets entitle to a free bread). Obviously these tickets refer to the token shown in the table below. This store, however, went bankrupt in November of that year. It seems likely that these tokens were also used in The Hague although there is no documentary evidence to that effect.

Schiedamsedijk 91, Rotterdam is in the centre of the city. The area borders on the port of Rotterdam. After 1830, it was populated by groups of Jews, prostitutes and "de penoze", a term from Amsterdam for petty and not so petty criminals and their entourage. The building has disappeared in the 1940 carpet bombing of Rotterdam.

Ad NBDU1: In 1779, Abraham Welsingh en Adriaen Swartendijk established a water mill on the river Vecht intending to produce thread and textiles with an Arkwright water-powered spinning machine. The factory was sold several times until it closed in 1799. From 1812, the water mill added producing flour, becoming successful and expanding, notably by buying the water rights of a nearby silk factory, "Zijde Balen" on the river Vecht. Steam power was introduced in 1856.

In 1857 The flour and bread factory De Korenschoof opened on the vacated grounds of "Zijde Balen" on Kaatstraat in Utrecht. In 1875, the last mill stones were replaced by steam driven presses, using porcelain cylinders. In 1885, De Korenschoof also became a co-operative retail bread and pastry vendor. The company established several bakeries shops, later Lubro shops, in Utrecht and Rotterdam. The water mill was demolished in 1906. In 1916, the factory was completely electrified. The bread factory closed in 1938, the flour factory lasted until 1970. Around 1978 the factory was demolished.

Discount bread tokens

The table is organised alphabetically by location.

Discount bread tokens
NBDA1.jpg
Filename NBDA1
Side 1 Decorative scroll on wheat ears inscribed: goed voor (good for) / 1 cent. Around: BROODFABRIEK (bread factory) and •WED. J. DE JONGE• (widow J. de Jonge)
Side 2 Decorative scroll inscribed: Spaarpenning / Wed. J de jonge. Around: 25 van deze penningen moeten worden ingeruild voor één coupon• (25 of these tokens must be exchanged for one coupon)
Material Printed tin plate, holed. Green on white ink, gold edge.
Size (mm) 33.4
Weight (grams)
Notes Frederik Hendrikstraat 168, Amsterdam
Source Heritage November 2021 lot 1480
NBDA2.jpg
Filename NBDA2
Side 1 Decorative scroll on wheat ears inscribed: goed voor (good for) / 1 cent. Around: BROODFABRIEK (bread factory) and •v/h WED. J. DE JONGE• (formerly widow J. de Jonge)
Side 2 Decorative scroll inscribed: Spaarpenning / v/h Wed. J de Jonge. Around: 25 van deze penningen moeten worden ingeruild voor één coupon• (25 of these tokens must be exchanged for one coupon)
Material Printed tin plate, holed. Green on white ink, gold edge.
Size (mm) 33.3
Weight (grams)
Notes
Source Heritage November 2021 lot 1480
NBDC1.jpg
Filename NBDC1
Side 1 BROODFABRIEK / DE HOOP / CAPELLE N.B. (Bread factory De Hoop, Capelle North Brabant) in pearl circle
Side 2 1 / A.L.S. & C. in pearl circle
Material Brass.
Size (mm) 19.3
Weight (grams)
Notes
Source Heritage auction, November 2021 lot 1492
NBDK1.jpg
Filename NBDK1
Side 1 BROODPENNING (bread token)/ VAN (by)/ H / SCHOMAKER / KAMPEN
Side 2 lamb
Material Brass.
Size (mm) 12.7
Weight (grams)
Notes
Source Henk
File:NBDM1.jpg
Filename NBDM1
Side 1 1 in pearl circle, around: MAASTRICHTSE BROODFABRIEK (Maastricht bread factory)
Side 2 1 in pearl circle, around: MAASTRICHTSE BROODFABRIEK (Maastricht bread factory)
Material Brass.
Size (mm) 20.5
Weight (grams)
Notes
Source Kooij
NBDM2.jpg
Filename NBDM2
Side 1 5 in pearl circle, around: MAASTRICHTSE BROODFABRIEK (Maastricht bread factory)
Side 2 5 in pearl circle, around: MAASTRICHTSE BROODFABRIEK (Maastricht bread factory)
Material Brass.
Size (mm) 21.5
Weight (grams)
Notes
Source Henk
File:NBDM3.jpg
Filename NBDM3
Side 1 10 in pearl circle, around: MAASTRICHTSE BROODFABRIEK (Maastricht bread factory)
Side 2 10 in pearl circle, around: MAASTRICHTSE BROODFABRIEK (Maastricht bread factory)
Material Brass.
Size (mm) 24.3
Weight (grams)
Notes
Source Kooij
NBDR1.jpg
Filename NBDR1
Side 1 H.G. / BEHLE / ROTTERDAM / SCHIED. DIJK / 91 in pearl circle, around: 30 STUKS GELDIG VOOR EEN BROOD À 15 CENTS (30 pieces valid for a loaf of 15 cents)
Side 2 Crown BEKROOND (awarded) / IN / ANTWERPEN / AMSTERDAM / &BOLSWARD around: DUITSCHE EN HOLLANDSCHE BAKKERIJ (German and Dutch bakery)
Material Brass.
Size (mm) 20.3
Weight (grams) 2.37
Notes 1884-1897
Source Figleaf
File:NBDR2.jpg
Filename NBDR2
Side 1 PRIMO in pearl circle, around: VOLKSBAKKERIJ (popular bakery) / ROTTERDAM
Side 2 PRIMO in pearl circle
Material Brass.
Size (mm) 28.5
Weight (grams)
Notes organised and probably subsidised by local employers.
Source Kooij
File:NBDU1.jpg
Filename NBDU1
Side 1 WAARDE / MUNT (coin with value, around: BROOD- EN BANKETBAKKERIJ and DE KORENSCHOOF (bread and pastry bakery the sheaf of corn)
Side 2 Blank
Material Carton.
Size (mm) 27
Weight (grams)
Notes Bakery "De Korenschoof" in Utrecht was a co-operative. Other co-operatives would also have distributed bread. When there is a page for co-operatives available, this token should be moved there, with a link to this page.
Source Kooij
File:NBDV1.jpg
Filename NBDV1
Side 1 1 BROOD, around: A.v.d.HOMBERGH •VELDEN• all in solid circle
Side 2 Blank
Material aluminium round
Size (mm) 26
Weight (grams)
Notes
Source Kooij
File:NBDV2.jpg
Filename NBDV2
Side 1 1 BROOD, around: A.v.d.HOMBERGH •VELDEN• all in solid circle
Side 2 Blank
Material aluminium sextagon
Size (mm) 26
Weight (grams)
Notes
Source Kooij
File:NBDV3.jpg
Filename NBDV3
Side 1 1 BROOD, around: A.v.d.HOMBERGH •VELDEN• all in solid circle
Side 2 Blank
Material steel sextagon
Size (mm) 26
Weight (grams)
Notes
Source Kooij