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 ( 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 . ...

in 2002. Its nominal value 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; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087 ...

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

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s and bracelets, 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 The ''rijksdaalder'' (Dutch, "Imperial dollar") was a Dutch coin first issued by the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands in the late 16th century during the Dutch Revolt which featured an armored half bust of William the Silent. It was the ...

(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 The 5 guilder coin was withdrawn from circulation on 28 January 2002 following the introduction of the euro.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, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

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 and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

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 coin (in both

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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