1815 Gilt Brass token Crown Prince of Orange

A gilt brass commemorative token of the Prince of Orange commemorating the Great Britain Battle of Waterloo. This charge of the vanguard was led by Prince Willem II (1792 -1849) of the Netherlands. Later he become King Willem II, William II was the son of William I and Wilhelmine of Prussia. When his father, who up to that time ruled as sovereign prince, proclaimed himself king in 1815, he became Prince of Orange as heir apparent of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. With the abdication of his father on 7 October 1840, William II became king. During his reign, the Netherlands became a parliamentary democracy with the new constitution of 1848. Prince Willem fought in the Battle of Waterloo at the young age 22 and as the Ranking Officer had to take the first charge. After the battle, he was dubbed the 'Hero of Waterloo' by the Dutch. He sustained wounds by a cannon ball to his shoulder. The token depicts a helmeted soldier holding a sword upon a galloping horse to left. The lettering around the toothed border on the front is inscribed in two-lines "Crown Prince of Orange, Holland's Glory". On the reverse is wreath of a laurel and palm branch containing a single inscription, Waterloo June 18 1815. The edge of the round token is diagonally reeded and as a commemorative numismatic has been demonitised. The coin is gilt brass with decorative gold surface to look like a gold coin, but is in fact an alloy.