2 Sovereigns – Spanish Netherlands

In 1668, the Spanish Netherlands grappled with a severe and chronic monetary crisis, a legacy of decades of warfare and economic strain. The circulating coinage was a chaotic mix of domestic and foreign issues, heavily debased through "clipping" (shaving precious metal from the edges) and counterfeiting. This led to a classic manifestation of Gresham's Law, where "bad money drives out good": full-weight, high-value coins were hoarded or exported, leaving only the degraded and unreliable currency in daily use. This erosion of trust paralyzed commerce, as the intrinsic value of coins became unpredictable, causing price inflation and hindering both trade and tax collection for the state.

The root causes were multifaceted. The prolonged Franco-Spanish War (1635-1659) and subsequent conflicts had drained the treasury, leading successive governments to repeatedly debase the coinage to fund military efforts. Furthermore, the region's position as a commercial crossroads meant it was flooded with currencies from neighboring states like France and the Dutch Republic, complicating the monetary landscape. Attempts at reform, such as the placards (edicts) issued by the government in Brussels, repeatedly failed. These edicts tried to set official values for the myriad of coins in circulation, but they were often ignored in practice, as market forces and the urgent needs of commerce dictated actual exchange rates.

By 1668, the situation demanded a more radical solution. The government, under the rule of the Governor-General, the Marquis of Castel Rodrigo, was actively preparing a major monetary recoinage. This plan aimed to call in all old, debased currency and replace it with new, full-weight coins at standardized values, a costly but necessary operation to restore public confidence. The year thus represents a critical juncture—the peak of a debilitating crisis that finally pushed the authorities toward a comprehensive, if arduous, reform, which would be implemented in the following years to stabilize the economy of the beleaguered province.