The Estates-General became the supreme authority of the United Netherlands on July 26, 1581. The Batavian Republic was established in the Netherlands on May 16, 1795, which was transformed into the Kingdom of Holland in 1806. On July 13, 1810 the Kingdom of Holland was annexed by France. The Kingdom of the Netherlands was established on March 16, 1815, though the Netherlands was occupied by Germany between May 10, 1940 and May 5, 1945.
The first coins were issued in the Netherlands in the sixth century by local rulers and Franks. Gold coins were reintroduced in the Netherlands in the fourteenth century.
The Stuyver was introduced into the Netherlands in 1355 (NLL) as a subsidiary of the Livre, with 1 Livre divisible into 6 Guilders, 120 Stuyver or 240 Grooten. The Duke of Burgandy unified the Netherlands’ monetary system on October 21, 1433, but different systems eventually reestablished themselves. Maximilian of Austria introduced a system based on the Real (NLR) on March 15, 1487, with the Guilder divisible into 6 Reals and 24 Griffons.
Independent systems existed in Ghent, Brussels, Louvain and Mechelen (Maines). The Estates-General established the Republic Guilder (NLD) as the primary unit of account in 1581. The Guilder (Gulden/Florin) was equal to 0.40 Rijksdaalder or 0.33 Ducats, and was divisible into 20 Stuivers or 160 Duit. In 1659 a new range of coins were introduced, including the Ducaton (60 stuivers), silver ducat (50 stuivers), florijn (28 stuivers) and schelling (5, later 6 stuivers). Mechanized coin production was introduced in the 1670s and a new currency system was introduced in 1680 with 1 Ducat equal to 5 Gulden or 100 stuivers. One gold rijder was equal to 7 gulden.
When the Batavian Republic was established, the Netherlands Guilder (NLG) was introduced with 1 Guilder divisible into 20 Stuiver, 40 Grooten or 320 Penning. French Francs (FRG) were used in the Netherlands between 1810 and 1813, but the Netherlands Guilder was restored upon gaining independence. In 1854, the Guilder was decimalized and made divisible into 100 Cents.
German Reichsmarks (DER) circulated in Netherlands during German occupation. De Nederlandsche Bank has issued banknotes since 1814. The Government issued small-denomination Muntbiljetten between 1846 and 1945. The Netherlands left the Gold Standard on September 26, 1936.
The Netherlands introduced the Euro as its currency on January 1, 1999. Netherlands Guilders ceased to be legal tender on February 28, 2002. The Euro is divisible into 100 Cents and is issued by the European Central Bank. |
