{"id":6478,"date":"2020-02-19T19:23:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-19T19:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/?p=6478"},"modified":"2020-02-21T11:36:08","modified_gmt":"2020-02-21T11:36:08","slug":"dutch-money-the-dutch-gulden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/dutch-money-the-dutch-gulden\/","title":{"rendered":"Dutch Money: The Dutch Gulden"},"content":{"rendered":"

Geld <\/em>(money). It is the lifeblood of our economie\u00ebn\u00a0<\/em>(economies) and we need it in our\u00a0dagelijks leven\u00a0<\/em>(daily life) for everything from\u00a0boodschappen\u00a0<\/em>(groceries)<\/a> to\u00a0treinkaartjes\u00a0<\/em>(train tickets)<\/a> to buying a\u00a0rijbewijs <\/em>(driver’s license)<\/a> once you get tired of all the\u00a0vertragingen <\/em>(delays) of the Dutch trains. But where did Dutch money begin? And what does the US dollar have to do with this? Here’s a look at the Dutch\u00a0gulden<\/em>!<\/p>\n

Click here for other posts in the series on Dutch Money.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The Birth of the Gulden<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Depiction of the Dutch Maagd met een speer<\/em> on a Dutch coin from 1694
(Image by AlfvanBeem at Commons.wikimedia.org under license CC0).<\/p><\/div>\n

The Netherlands uses the European munteenheid <\/em>(currency unit), the\u00a0euro\u00a0<\/em>(euro). Before its introduction in January 2002, the Dutch used the gulden <\/em>(guilder). The\u00a0gulden <\/em>had been in use for many centuries, actually. It was introduced in the\u00a0Middeleeuwen\u00a0<\/em>(Middle Ages),\u00a0so the replacement for the euro <\/em>was a pretty big deal! In fact, the\u00a0Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt\u00a0<\/em>(Royal Dutch Mint) made a real silver and gold 1 gulden\u00a0<\/em>to commemorate this\u00a0munteenheid<\/em>. You can still buy it here<\/a>!<\/p>\n

The name gulden\u00a0<\/em>refers to the\u00a0fiorino d’oro <\/em>(golden florentine), the florentines introduced as a\u00a0munteenheid\u00a0<\/em>in Florence, Italy already in 1252. It spread throughout Europe quickly, and many regions began introducing their own versions of this coin, including the Dutch. The name\u00a0gulden <\/em>refers to the “golden” part in the name fiorino d’oro<\/em>. So really, the money’s name is just Old Dutch for “golden”.<\/p>\n

From 1526 onwards, the Dutch gewesten\u00a0<\/em>(provinces at the time)<\/a> are using the\u00a0Carolusgulden\u00a0<\/em>(Charles Guilder), after Charlemagne. It can be divided into 20\u00a0stuivers\u00a0<\/em>(pennies). So since then, there was a clearly divisible\u00a0munteenheid\u00a0<\/em>in the Dutch lands. Around 1600, after the\u00a0Tachtigjarige Oorlog\u00a0<\/em>(Eighty Years’ War)<\/a>, the\u00a0provinces\u00a0<\/em>each have the\u00a0muntrecht\u00a0<\/em>(coinage rights), and so can create their own\u00a0munten<\/em>. Some\u00a0gewesten\u00a0<\/em>create larger silver pieces worth 28\u00a0stuivers<\/em>. These are also known as\u00a0achtentwintigstuiverstuk\u00a0<\/em>(twenty eight-penny piece) or\u00a0florijn\u00a0<\/em>(florin).<\/p>\n

At the end of the 17th century, the entire country goes back to the 20\u00a0stuivers\u00a0<\/em>for a\u00a0gulden<\/em> as standard coin. This 1694\u00a0gulden <\/em>depicts the\u00a0Dutch\u00a0maagd met een speer<\/em>\u00a0(maiden with a spear). A\u00a0gulden\u00a0<\/em>or even a euro <\/em>is sometimes still referred to as a piek <\/em>(pike, point), which refers to the spear on this munt.<\/p>\n

In 1816, when the Dutch monarchy<\/a> was just introduced, the\u00a0gulden\u00a0<\/em>got a new division. It was now no longer divided into 20\u00a0stuivers<\/em>, but 100\u00a0centen\u00a0<\/em>(cents), likening it to the most current currencies we have around the world. This\u00a0gulden\u00a0<\/em>also introduced the head of the current vorst\u00a0<\/em>(monarch) onto the heads-side of the munt.\u00a0<\/em>See what that looked like in 1821 here, with Willem I<\/em>.<\/a><\/p>\n

A fun fact about these coins: with each\u00a0troonwisseling\u00a0<\/em>(change of the crown), the\u00a0vorst\u00a0<\/em>looks in the other direction than their predecessor. It was seen as\u00a0onwaardig\u00a0<\/em>(unworthy) if the\u00a0vorsten\u00a0<\/em>were to look at each others’ necks! Very thoughtful.<\/p>\n

While all these coins were real silver,\u00a0nikkel\u00a0<\/em>(nickel) was used since 1967, since the\u00a0zilverprijzen\u00a0<\/em>(silver prices) went too high.<\/p>\n

And then in 2002, the\u00a0euro\u00a0<\/em>was introduced, marking the end of an era!<\/p>\n

The\u00a0gulden\u00a0<\/em>in the Dutch language<\/strong><\/h2>\n