On the back of the notes are well-known Meppel names such as Klomp, Pothof, Troost and De Vries. In addition, the amounts that the Vooruit cooperative is still owed by them. These are the crisis years, a period in which the residents of Meppel are not well off. A closer look at the notes makes this more than clear. About 75 to 80 percent of orders were purchased on credit. De Vries: “It concerns amounts of six to seven guilders per week. I do not know how much the weekly wages were at that time, but these were large amounts.”
The special find was made in an attic of a house on Woldstraat. The cooperative’s office was located here for many years. “Vooruit had a shop and a bakery on the Herengracht and a shop and an office on the Woldgracht. The latter building is now being converted into an apartment complex. A construction worker found these papers during the work,” said the chairman of Oud Meppel.
This was partly the reason that an archaeologist from the association also started sniffing around the building. He discovered several historical coins under the old wooden floor, which was demolished from the building. Coins that probably once rolled between the shelves and ended up under the floor.
“There was a copper coin from 1788 that was still very legible. This coin was minted in Utrecht,” says De Vries. “In addition, there were also some older coins that are less easy to read. The oldest dates from 1600.
The settlement notes and coins will be given a place in the archives of the historical association. The notes have now been stored in acid-free paper and will be given a place in the archive building. Meppel residents who are interested in the papers and coins will have to be patient for a while.
De Vries: “We will occasionally include them in our exhibitions. Maybe even during our next exhibition.”