A ''dubbeltje'' () is a small former

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

coin, originally made of silver, with a value of a tenth of a Dutch

guilder Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch and German ''gulden'', originally shortened from Middle High German ''guldin pfenninc'' " gold penny". This was the term that became current in the southern and western parts of the Holy Roman Emp ...

. The 10-

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

-cent coin is currently also called a dubbeltje in the Netherlands. The name "dubbeltje" is the

diminutive A diminutive is a root word that has been modified to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment. A ( abbreviated ) is a word-form ...

form of the Dutch word "dubbel" (Dutch for "

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * ...

") because it was worth two

stuiver The stuiver was a coin used in the Netherlands, worth Dutch Guilders ( 16 ''penning'' or 8 '' duit'', later 5 cents). It was also minted on the Lower Rhine region and the Dutch colonies. The word can still refer to the 5 euro cent coin, which ...

s. When the decimal system came to the Netherlands (about 1800) the 10-cent coin was named a "dubbeltje". In Dutch slang, a dubbeltje was named a ''beisje'', from Dutch-

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...

''beis'', the value of two stuivers. The central opening in a CD is exactly the size of a dubbeltje. Joop Sinjou, head of

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters is ...

audio products development, said that "De snelste beslissing in de ontwikkelingsfase was over de diameter van het gat in de CD. Ik legde een dubbeltje op tafel en dat werd de maat." ("The fastest decision in the development phase was about the diameter of the hole in the CD. I put a dubbeltje on the table and that was the size.") There are Dutch sayings about the dubbeltje: *Dat was een dubbeltje op zijn kant (That was a dubbeltje on its edge): A narrow escape *Voor een dubbeltje op de eerste rij/rang (willen) zitten (To (want to) sit on the first row/rank for a dubbeltje): He gets (or wants to get) more for his money than he would expect from the price paid. Automatic translation from Dutch to English often translates "dubbeltje" as " dime".

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References

{{Currency and coinage of the Netherlands Coins of the Netherlands Guilder Ten-cent coins