Ned. East. Ind. mintmark?

I wonder what is to the left of shield on thiese coins?
P is mintmark, but what is that small stuff on the left side?
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces6606.html
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces6564.html
thanks
D

I think it is supposed to be a palm tree.
EDIT: It's written in the comment of the 45 half cent

yes. But Palm tree is Philadelphia Mint privy mark?

Does it exist on other coins as well, minted in P ?

thanks
D

The palm tree is also found on Curacao coins for 1941 P to 1943P, but for Netherlands coins, the mark is an acorn for 1941P to 1943P. For the coins from NL and Curacao these different markings are the only difference between the coins.

Dutch coins (and colonial) carry both a mint mark and a privy mark (mint master mark).

The mint mark is usually the Mercury staff for the Royal Dutch Mint at Utrecht. The ancient god of Mercury was patron of the merchant guild and thus had something to do with money.
The privy mark is particular for the mint master in charge at the Utrecht mint, and changes with every newly appointed mint master. In the period that a mint master is released of his function, and a new one is not yet appointed, a * is added to the old privy mark.

During WWII, the Netherlands were occupied, and minting for free overseas territories (or territories expected to be liberated shortly), was done in the US. So these coins carry the P, D, or S mint marks we know from US coins.
The Dutch mint master was not in charge of these mints, so he couldn't exert any authority there. For this reason, a pseudo privy mark was put on the coins. The palm tree was chosen as it represented the tropical colonial areas for which the coins were intended.

The Utrecht mint continued to mint the zinc occupation money for the homeland during WWII. These coins do carry the Mercury staff mint mark, but no privy mark. Allegedly, the mint master refused to relate to the zinc rubbish summoned by the occupier.

A final thing about mint marks: the non-silver 5 cent pieces of the first half of the 20th century carry no mint or privy mark, although they were in fact minted in Utrecht. There was a peculiar reason for this, which I unfortunately have forgotten

Nice explanation ArnoV!

I think the deal with the 5 Cents coins of 1907-1943 was that these were not silver and maybe therefore were against a law that defined denominations and silver contents. Maybe these coins were tokens in a legal sense and therefore bore no mint marks.

The Netherlands reorganised the currency situation after the war which may have resulted in a law change as well, allowing all coins to have mint marks.