Dutch 10 cents

[admin]

Dutch 10 cents 1939, but what's up with the things on the sides?

[admin]

I received following comment on www.worldofcoins.eu by Figleaf

When the danger of war rose in the late thirties, silver coins were hoarded. The Mint struck very large numbers of silver coins, but they could hardly keep up with demand. As German troops occupied the country, the hoarding stopped. The Nazis hoped queen Wilhelmina would return and submit to their regime. When it became clear that this wouldn't happen, their policy became to eradicate all traces of the royal house. In 1941 holding gold coins was banned. However, only 6.5% of Dutch gold circulation coins were handed in, about the percentage of vote obtained by the Dutch nazi party in the last elections. Later, during the famine in the winter of 1944, gold coins became virtually the only accepted currency. In 1942, silver coins were replaced by a series in zinc. Again, only collaborators exchanged their coins with the head of the queen, though the percentage of 2-1/2 cents and 1 gulden coins exchanged was higher. The former came from machines that provided private homes with natural gas (gasmeters), the latter from the supply in post offices.

As it was clear that the nazis had withdrawn the coin because it reminded people of the queen, the coins acquired political value. It was dangerous to have them, so they were hidden, but even during the occupation, there were objects made with coins, hangers with the head of the queen sawed out or pieces where the queen wore an engraved military helmet and where the text WILHELMINA KONINGIN DER NEDERLANDEN was changed to WILHELMINA IN LONDEN, which requires filing away the black letters and changing only one (London is spelled Londen in Dutch).

In September 1944, the allies liberated the southern provinces of the country, but when operation Market Garden failed, the north remained occupied during the winter. The government in exile had silver coins struck in US mints, but they quickly disappeared from circulation. Inflation had taken its toll. It was clear that new coins were necessary and they wouldn't be silver.

After the nazi surrender in may 1945, a large operation was undertaken to bring the money supply under control. Unexplained richness was confiscated, taxes on liquid capital were increased to unheard of levels, coins were withdrawn and replaced one by one, banknotes replaced in one week. The operation took four years to complete, but resulted in a sound financial situation that was the basis for such a rapid recovery in the fifties and sixties, that Marshall aid funds were not completely drawn upon.

The end result was that just about 90% of the pre-war coin circulation remained in the hands of the population and had become worthless. There were two periods in which pre-war coins could be exchanged, neither was a success. The second was the basis of my coin collection: I posted in a nearby Post Office and got the coins of the people standing in line to exchange them.

The jewelry and other articles made with coins became quite popular in the immediate post-war period. That's when your coin got it's "ears". The coins were linked to form bracelets, necklaces and pins as tokens of patriotism. The ring that connected your piece to the next one is lost, but you can easily imagine a second piece with "ears" and a little ring connecting them. That little ring was the weak point of the home-made jewelry. Often, people used thin, soft metal rings that would open easily when the bracelet or necklace got stuck, even in clothes. Today, coins with rings are easy to obtain, but they are not often linked together. I am attaching a picture of an almost complete bracelet from the collection of a Dutch friend.

And here's the picture:

[frans]

That's a nice piece of history you got there.

[chris]

Yeah, it's a nice piece of juwelry.

[bart]

I heard about those things and I've had some myself (only the single coins). I don't think I've ever seen the complete set like that. Pretty nice.