Currency of the Netherlands: history, description and exchange

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

The Netherlands is a small European country, yet rich in history, culture and a strong economy. The history of its national currency is also interesting.

Today, the official currency of the Netherlands is the euro, but not so long ago, guilders were in circulation. What kind of currency is it and what are its features, you will find out by reading this article.

A Brief History

Before the Netherlands switched to the use of a common European currency, the Dutch guilder was used in the country. This monetary unit was put into circulation on the territory of the state in the XII century.

The silver guilder, which was adopted as the national currency of the Netherlands by the States General of the Republic of the United Provinces in 1581, was divided into twenty stavers (a bargaining chip), and they, in turn, consisted of eight dates or sixteen pennings.

During the occupation of Holland by Napoleonic France, the French franc became the currency of the Netherlands. After the defeat of Bonaparte, a financial reform was carried out in the country, as a result of which the guilder began to be divided into 100 cents.

So the currencyThe Netherlands before the euro was the guilder, which went out of circulation in 2002. Moreover, in non-cash payments, it ceased to be used back in 1999.

It is worth noting that coins of the old currency could be exchanged until 2007, and banknotes can still be changed, and more precisely until 2032.

An interesting fact is that guilders were also used in Belgium until 1832 and in some Dutch colonies such as the Antilles (until 1940) and Suriname (until 1962).

Description

Before the euro became the currency of the Netherlands, coins were in use in the country: 5 cents, which were called stuever, 10 and 25 cents, as well as coins with a face value of 1 guilder. Coins were also used in denominations of two and a half and five guilders. Each of them depicted a portrait of the Dutch Queen Beatrix. The phrase “God zij met ons” was minted on the largest denominations, which means “God is with us.”

As for paper banknotes, until the end of the 20th century, banknotes in denominations of ten, twenty-five, fifty and one hundred guilders were in use. Large denominations worth two hundred and fifty and one thousand guilders were also used.

The old-style paper money had portrait images of famous Dutch people, and the new version had various abstract compositions.

Today, the Netherlands uses the euro, so the modern money of this country is not much different from those used in other countries that have switched to the eurozone currency.

Changeoperations

Today, tourists traveling to the Netherlands on vacation do not have to worry about currency exchange, because the euro can be changed anywhere. Many even change rubles to euros in Russia before departure to avoid large commissions that you will be charged at Dutch exchange offices.

Of course, you can come, taking rubles with you. However, remember that you can not exchange them for euros everywhere. They work with Russian currency only at the airport, some large banks, hotels and other financial institutions.

Also, you can safely come to the country with American dollars or British pounds. There are no problems with the exchange of these currencies. Exchange offices also work with some other foreign money: Canadian dollar, Norwegian krone, etc. But exchange offices are not so easy to find.

Cashless payment

The Netherlands is one of the most highly developed countries in the world, so there are no problems with cashless payments even in small towns. Plastic cards of any bank are accepted everywhere if major payment systems are used: MasterCard World, Visa or American Express.

In addition, you can easily pay even with credit cards of foreign banks, if the issuing bank has not set territorial restrictions. If you still need cash urgently, you can easily withdraw it. Fortunately, there is no shortage of ATMs here. They are everywhere: in shopping centers, hotels, supermarkets,government agencies, etc. Even on the street you can often find ATMs.

Commissions, by the way, are not too high, so there will be no problems with this.

In closing

The modern currency of the Netherlands today has no historical or cultural significance, which cannot be said about the guilders. The obsolete money of this country is very attractive to numismatists-collectors, as it is the heritage of the Dutch culture.

Guilders have a rich history, and some examples of coins can date back to the Middle Ages. Not only any collector will be happy to get such a coin, but also large museums or antique shops.

The Netherlands is a country that strives to be the very first and progressive in everything, so they willingly met the European Union halfway and changed their traditional currency, which was used for many centuries in a row, to the euro. Thus, the country's authorities wanted to integrate as quickly as possible into the pan-European economic market.