NWM

J.H.M. Sopers (1918-1953) established the firm of Sopers in Den Bosch on Engelenseweg in 1948 in order to produce Bataaf aluminium cartridges for hunting. Foto: Fotopersbureau Het Zuiden, 1948. In 1955, he needed more land for expansion and moved outside the city. The name of the company was changed to N.V. Nederlandsche Wapen- en Munitiefabriek "De Kruithoorn" (NWM De Kruithoorn) - Netherland arms and ammunition factory "the powder horn".

As the company did not produce powder, it operated much like a metal working enterprise. In 1961, Industriewerke Karlsruhe (IWK), a German packaging company interested in aluminium tubes, acquired a majority of the shares. In this period, NWM used the brand name DWM, as it considered itself German (Duits), rather than Dutch (Nederlands). It produced barrels and other gun parts for Mauser Werke, a German arms producer. In 1975, all shares were bought by Rheinmetall, a German manufacturer of car parts and arms. NWM increasingly drifted into military goods. One of its products was "Goalkeeper", a defence system against Exocet rockets many ships of the British navy lacked in the Falklands war. An attempt to develop civilian goods failed in 1966. NWM became a target for anti-military groups, in particular Werkgroep De Kruidhoorn (the d is not a spelling error but a lame attempt at a pun). The company folded in 1998.

As an arms producer for the Duch military and under fire from protest groups for making military goods, "De Kruithoorn" became secretive. The design of the token reflects this, lacking indications like a place, a logo and the name "De Kruithoorn".

Nederlandse Wapen en Munitie industrie
	Filename	DNW1
	Side 1	NWM
	Side 2	NWM
	Manufacture	Copper-nickel
	Size (mm)	22.5
	Weight (grams)
	Notes
	Source	Figleaf