CE not LE for Cornelius Evert.
CE — Cornelis Evert
Role: Die engraver / die sinker
Function: Engraver’s signature, not a mintwarden’s control mark
Rarity: Appears on all known dies of the 100 Stuivers
Cornelis Evert (active 1790s)
Die Sinker and Engraver of the 1794 Maastricht Siege 100 Stuivers
Cornelis Evert was a working die sinker and metal engraver active in Maastricht during the final decade of the 18th century, a period marked by political instability and repeated military pressure from French Revolutionary forces. When Maastricht came under siege in 1794, the city’s minting apparatus was forced into emergency operation to produce siege money—large, thick copper pieces intended to maintain internal commerce when regular coinage could not circulate.
Evert’s role was to cut the dies used for the city’s highest‑value emergency issue, the 100 Stuivers. His initials, CE, appear prominently on every known die of this denomination, functioning as a craftsman’s signature rather than a mintwarden’s control mark. The consistency of the CE monogram across surviving examples indicates that Evert was likely the sole engraver assigned to this specific denomination during the siege.
Although little is recorded about his personal life, Evert’s work reflects the technical constraints of wartime minting:
- dies cut rapidly and with minimal ornamentation
- thick planchets struck with improvised or repurposed equipment
- a design focused on clarity, authority, and speed of production
His CE monogram has become a key diagnostic feature for collectors and researchers, helping authenticate genuine siege pieces and distinguish them from later fabrications.
Cornelis Evert’s contribution survives today almost entirely through these coins—one of the few tangible traces of the craftsmen who kept Maastricht’s economy functioning under bombardment.
