their acceptance at par with full-bodied coins. As the Northern Dutch Republic just declared its independence from the Spanish crown, there was no central authority powerful enough to penalize the provinces responsible for the deterioration of the quality of Dutch currency. The inevitable official acceptance of new, debased rates for the gulden only set the stage for the next round of depreciations. As a result, the gulden equivalent of different trade coins passing through the Low Countries also rose in value, as follows: The German Reichsthaler of 25.98 g fine silver was valued at 32 stuivers (1.6G) in 1566. The Dutch Republic's leeuwendaalder (Liondollar) of 20.57g fine silver was valued at 32 stuivers (1.6G) in 1575. The Dutch Republic's Rijksdaalder of 25.40 g fine silver, a local version of the German reichsthaler, was valued at 42 stuivers (2.1G) in 1583, and repeatedly raised in value until it reached 50 stuivers (2.5G) in 1618 - hence, 10.16 g silver in a gulden. The Spanish Netherlands’ patagon or Albertus thaler of 24.56 g fine silver, valued at 8 shillings Flemish (48 stuivers, 2.4G) in 1618. The Spanish Netherlands’ ducaton of 30.70 g fine silver, valued at 10 shillings Flemish (60 stuivers, 3G) in 1618. The solution which immediately halted the downward spiral of the gulden was the establishment of the Amsterdam Wisselbank (Bank of Amsterdam) in 1609, mandated to accept & assay the bullion content of coins received from its depositors, and then to credit the equivalent of 1 Rijksdaalder ( gulden after 1618) for each 25.40 g fine silver actually received. Combined with rules requiring payments above 600 gulden to be cleared through the bank, it halted incentives for provinces to tamper with the silver content of its coins. In 1626, Pieter Schaghen wrote in Dutch of the purchase of "the Island Manhattes" (Manhattan) "from the Indians for the value of 60 guilders." 1659, Gulden currency & banco Even with the Bank of Amsterdam's success in halting the depreciation of Dutch currency, attempts to further increase the stuiver equivalent of trade coins continued among the provinces. After the 1630s came moves to raise the Patagon's value from 48 to 50 stuivers (4.17% advance), followed by moves to raise the Ducaton's value from 60 to 63 stuivers (5.0% advance). Fearing damage to its Europe-wide reputation if 50-stuiver deposits in rixdollars were repaid in cheaper 50-stuiver patagons, in the 1640s the bank firmly