Mijt (Mite) — Smallest Copper Coin of the Low Countries

Illustrated Specimen Details: Burgundian Netherlands 2 Mijt

Example Specimen: Copper 2 Mijt, struck from 1384 to 1404 (Burgundian Netherlands)

Iconography & Origin: This copper 2 mijt (frequently written as "mite") was issued during the joint regional administration of Philip the Bold — who held the titles of Duke of Burgundy and Count of Flanders, Artois, and Burgundy. Struck at several historical workshops located across modern-day Belgium, the obverse features a small, finely engraved heraldic shield representing the coat of arms of the Burgundian Netherlands, showcasing the combined symbols of Burgundy and Flanders. This central motif is framed by the legend PHILIPP DVX BVRIG (Philip, Duke of Burgundy). The reverse features a prominent cross pattée — a standard Christian cross with arms that are narrow at the center and flare out toward the perimeter — topped by an additional miniature cross, accompanied by the inscription MONETA FLANDRES (Currency of Flanders).

Technical Peculiarity: An interesting diagnostic feature found on almost every single surviving coin of this specific issue is a visible ghosting imprint. Due to the primitive and imperfect nature of medieval hammering technologies, the high relief of the reverse cross left a noticeable indentation or faint reverse outline directly on the obverse face during the striking process.

1. BURGUNDIAN NETHERLANDS (Brabant, Flanders: 14th-16th centuries): mijt = 3/2 maille = 1/24 groot = 1/48 stuiver
2. SPANISH NETHERLANDS (Brabant, Flanders, Utrecht: 16th century)
3. COUNTY OF HAINAUT; COUNTY OF NAMUR; COUNTY OF FLANDERS; DUCHY OF BRABANT; LORDSHIPS OF GERDINGEN AND STEIN; LORDSHIP OF RUMMEN; LORDSHIPS OF VOGELZANG, ZOLDER AND ZONHOVEN (14th-15th centuries)...

About the name: In English-language numismatic literature, the denomination appears interchangeably as "mijt" or "mite". The English word is a literal translation of the original Dutch term "mijt", which historically refers to tiny arachnids (mites). In ancient times, the Dutch colloquialized this word to describe the absolute smallest, most microscopic fractional coin in their daily marketplace.

Biblical Connection: The term "mite" holds a famous position in global linguistic history through the King James Bible. In the Synoptic Gospels, the famous parable of the "widow's mite" (the widow's humble offering at the Temple in Jerusalem) uses this word to translate the original ancient Greek small bronze denomination known as the lepton.

The Role of the Mijt in the Low Countries

The mijt system serves as an excellent case study for medieval European economic history, highlighting the deeply complex fractional frameworks that governed daily life before modern decimalization.

Complex Accounting Ecosystems

As the lowest possible copper denomination in circulation across the Low Countries, the physical coin was essential for the peasantry purchasing daily staples like bread or ale. However, its exact relationship to larger units was highly volatile and shifted regularly based on regional ordinances:

• In many late medieval reckonings, 1 stuiver was equal to 8 groots.
• A single groot was typically subdivided into 2 mijten, though this number could be much higher depending on the decade.
• In standardized Flemish-Brabant accounting traditions, 1 mijt was treated as roughly half of a maille, one twenty-fourth of a groot, or one forty-eighth of a stuiver.

While these exact fractions provide a clean modern "accounting equivalence", historical merchants had to stay constantly alert. The maille itself was never fully standardized across different feudal mints, and exchange standards drifted continuously between the competing markets of Flanders and Brabant.

Evolution into the Spanish Period

During the 16th century, the expansion of the Spanish Netherlands saw a strong push toward monetary centralization under the Habsburg crown. The regional currency names remained — such as the stuiver (known alternatively as the sou, sol, or escalin depending on the linguistic zone) and the groot (or denier) — but the physical mijt began to alter its role. It increasingly transitioned from an actively struck, heavy-circulation copper piece into a token copper fraction or a abstract accounting unit utilized primarily to settle tiny fractional remainders in ledger books.

Key Numismatic Insights

The study of the mijt demonstrates three important aspects of early European coin history: the heavy reliance on sophisticated mixed duodecimal and non-decimal counting systems, the intense geopolitical fragmentation of weight standards across the various independent lordships of the Low Countries, and the eventual macro-economic shift toward central imperial control.

Key Point

The mijt was a minor historical copper denomination of the Low Countries, circulating extensively from the 14th to the 16th centuries. Famous as the smallest practical trade unit of its era, it represents the high fragmentation of medieval feudal minting before the consolidation of the Spanish Netherlands.