Hanseatic city of Deventer's longest preserved historical object

From all over the world traders came to Hanseatic city of Deventer to sell their wares on the Brink. Fair trade was of great importance, and for that there had to be supervision of sizing. The reputation of a reliable trading town was essential. For a trade offence, such as counterfeiting, there was a penalty. Counterfeiters in the Middle Ages ran the real risk of being boiled alive in a cauldron. It happened to the mint master of Batenburg in 1434.

He was accused of counterfeiting coinage. In Deventer, he was punished. For centuries, this dreaded cauldron hung on the side wall of De Waag as a deterrent. For conservation and safety reasons, the cauldron had to be taken inside. In December 2023, during Deventer's Hanseatic Year, the long-awaited replica of Deventer's counterfeit boiler was completed. This recreated cauldron will replace the original on the outside of De Waag.

So the punishment for currency counterfeiting was cruel and high. Counterfeit money was a serious threat to honest trade. The coin counterfeiter was boiled in a mixture of water and oil. City accounts from 1434 confirm this cruel and tragic punishment. In that year, the city council ordered coppersmith Joan Peterzoon to manufacture a new copper cauldron to replace the old one.

The mint master was 'zoden', or boiled. How exactly this may have happened is not known. In any case, it always led to the death of the condemned person. The dreaded cauldron was hung in public to deter others. Centuries later, French soldiers fired bullets at the cauldron during the occupation (1795-1814), rendering it unusable. In doing so, they did away with this medieval method of punishment, which, incidentally, was no longer used after 1598.

For more than a year and a half, members of the coppersmiths' guild from 's-Hertogenbosch worked on this replica with great passion and dedication. All 20 members took part on their own account. This proved to be a valuable process.

Especially for the Hanseatic Year 2023 in Deventer, a replica of the cauldron returned to the oldest weigh house in the Netherlands. This way, the chilling story about the cauldron can also be told on the outside of the Waag.

The counterfeit cauldron was hung back on the facade of Museum De Waag on 13 June 2024 amid great public interest as a replica. Heritage organisation Deventer Verhaal thanks the Buyers' Guild of 's-Hertogenbosch for all their time, passion and efforts to complete this replica.

Photo taken? Share your picture of the boiler online with #valsemuntersketel.

The replica was co-sponsored by

Municipality of Deventer, Vereniging de Waag, Stichting Werkgroep Bergkwartier, Stichting Erven Witteveen and the Bolkestein Fund.

Watch the documentary on the making process of the replica counterfeiters cauldron.