Jan Mattys didn't know much about Pi. Calculating the circumference of circles from their diameters wasn't something you had much time for on the streets of Amsterdam (or Munster) back then. Or even calculating the diameters of circles from their circumferences. They just weren't those kinds of times.

He could appreciate the beauty of a perfect circle though. Not that there were many to be seen back then. Wagon wheels weren't circular, just uneven shapes that bumped and rattled over the cobblestones and through the dirt. And the fashion for plates was oblong.

Coins though. Amsterdam town hall wasn't good for much. They certainly couldn't keep the bishops in line. But one thing they could do was mint a decent, round coin.

Jan Mattys thought they were beautiful. Now, he wasn't a greedy man. There were times you had to beg him to let you pay for a pastry, he was so eager for someone to enjoy it. No, he didn't love money. He just loved those coins. He just found those little silver coins to be the most wonderful little things. He loved them like daughters. If he'd had any daughters. Or like bourbon. (He had plenty of that.)

But maybe that was one of the first things that set him against the bishops. To give a tithe to the church? To give away those perfect, beautiful little silver coins? To the bishops?

Jan Mattys may not have known about Pi, but he had principles all the same.