The Dutch Five guilder coin was the highest-denomination coin in the Netherlands from its introduction in 1988 until the adoption of the

euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

in 2002. Its

nominal value In economics, nominal value refers to value measured in terms of absolute money amounts, whereas real value is considered and measured against the actual goods or services for which it can be exchanged at a given time. Real value takes into acc ...

was ƒ 5,- (€ 2.27). All of its mintings featured the portrait of Queen Beatrix on the obverse.

History

After a first few isolated issues in low numbers under the kings

William I William I may refer to: Kings * William the Conqueror (–1087), also known as William I, King of England * William I of Sicily (died 1166) * William I of Scotland (died 1214), known as William the Lion * William I of the Netherlands and Luxembour ...

and William II in the early 19th century, a gold five guilder coin was issued under Queen Wilhelmina in 1912. One million pieces were struck that year but none were struck in the following years of her reign. Many of these ended up in

necklace A necklace is an article of jewellery that is worn around the neck. Necklaces may have been one of the earliest types of adornment worn by humans. They often serve ceremonial, religious, magical, or funerary purposes and are also used as sy ...

s and

bracelet A bracelet is an article of jewellery that is worn around the wrist. Bracelets may serve different uses, such as being worn as an ornament. When worn as ornaments, bracelets may have a supportive function to hold other items of decoration, ...

s, and its popularity as a jewel meant that imitations were made without the coin. The introduction of a 5 guilder coin was first discussed and eventually approved in 1981. It would replace the 5 guilder note in circulation at the time. However, at the time De Nederlandsche Bank (Central Bank of the Netherlands) had a very large supply of these banknotes in stock. Thus, in order to prevent wasting them, it was decided to postpone the introduction of the coin for several years. The new coin had to fit in the current series. The ministry of finance reported it was to become "gold-coloured" and "smaller than the guilder coin and thicker than the rijksdaalder (2½ guilder coin)". It was introduced on 1 May 1988. In 2000 a commemorative 5 guilder coin was struck in honour of the

UEFA Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

in the Netherlands and Belgium. The 5 guilder coin was withdrawn from circulation on 28 January 2002 following the introduction of the euro. It remained tender to be exchanged for currency of the

until 1 January 2007.

Mintage

The following number of coins have been struck. As of October 2002, 153,000,000 (70.61%) of 5 Guilder coins had been returned to the national bank.

Commemorative coin of the UEFA European Championship

A special coin of 5 guilder was struck in honour of the

football championship held in the Netherlands and

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

in 2000. It would be the only commemorative coin valued 5 guilder. The first coins were struck in

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

on 3 May 2000. The coin was distributed from 4 May onward through four large supermarket branches (Basismarkt, Edah, Konmar and Super de Boer). Belgium minted a commemorative 50-

Franc The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' (King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th century ...

coin (in both French and Dutch) in honour of the European Championship. The mintage numbers were as follows: The Dutch national mint also minted a number of FDC and Proof coins, intended for sale. Sale prices at the time are listed above. Also a set including both the Dutch and Belgian European Championship-coins in FDC-quality was sold for ƒ 59.95 (€ 27.20).

Sources

''Kerstpers''
Magazine of the Dutch national mint, November 2000. {{Currency and coinage of the Netherlands Coins of the Netherlands Five-base-unit coins