1.
Florence
–
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the Metropolitan City of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants, Florence was a centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of the time. It is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance, and has called the Athens of the Middle Ages. A turbulent political history includes periods of rule by the powerful Medici family, from 1865 to 1871 the city was the capital of the recently established Kingdom of Italy. The Historic Centre of Florence attracts 13 million tourists each year and it was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1982. The city is noted for its culture, Renaissance art and architecture, the city also contains numerous museums and art galleries, such as the Uffizi Gallery and the Palazzo Pitti, and still exerts an influence in the fields of art, culture and politics. Due to Florences artistic and architectural heritage, it has been ranked by Forbes as one of the most beautiful cities in the world, in 2008, the city had the 17th highest average income in Italy. Florence originated as a Roman city, and later, after a period as a flourishing trading and banking medieval commune. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, it was politically, economically, and culturally one of the most important cities in Europe, the language spoken in the city during the 14th century was, and still is, accepted as the Italian language. Starting from the late Middle Ages, Florentine money—in the form of the gold florin—financed the development of all over Europe, from Britain to Bruges, to Lyon. Florentine bankers financed the English kings during the Hundred Years War and they similarly financed the papacy, including the construction of their provisional capital of Avignon and, after their return to Rome, the reconstruction and Renaissance embellishment of Rome. Florence was home to the Medici, one of European historys most important noble families, Lorenzo de Medici was considered a political and cultural mastermind of Italy in the late 15th century. Two members of the family were popes in the early 16th century, Leo X, catherine de Medici married king Henry II of France and, after his death in 1559, reigned as regent in France. Marie de Medici married Henry IV of France and gave birth to the future king Louis XIII, the Medici reigned as Grand Dukes of Tuscany, starting with Cosimo I de Medici in 1569 and ending with the death of Gian Gastone de Medici in 1737. The Etruscans initially formed in 200 BC the small settlement of Fiesole and it was built in the style of an army camp with the main streets, the cardo and the decumanus, intersecting at the present Piazza della Repubblica. Situated along the Via Cassia, the route between Rome and the north, and within the fertile valley of the Arno, the settlement quickly became an important commercial centre. Peace returned under Lombard rule in the 6th century, Florence was conquered by Charlemagne in 774 and became part of the Duchy of Tuscany, with Lucca as capital. The population began to again and commerce prospered
Florence
–
A collage of Florence showing the
Galleria degli Uffizi (top left), followed by the
Palazzo Pitti, a sunset view of the city and the
Fountain of Neptune in the
Piazza della Signoria
Florence
–
A wooden model of Florence as it would have probably looked during Roman times, showing the ancient amphitheatre
Florence
–
The façade of the Cathedral
Florence
–
Leonardo da Vinci statue outside the
Uffizi Gallery.
2.
English language
–
English /ˈɪŋɡlɪʃ/ is a West Germanic language that was first spoken in early medieval England and is now the global lingua franca. Named after the Angles, one of the Germanic tribes that migrated to England, English is either the official language or one of the official languages in almost 60 sovereign states. It is the third most common language in the world, after Mandarin. It is the most widely learned second language and a language of the United Nations, of the European Union. It is the most widely spoken Germanic language, accounting for at least 70% of speakers of this Indo-European branch, English has developed over the course of more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the century, are called Old English. Middle English began in the late 11th century with the Norman conquest of England, Early Modern English began in the late 15th century with the introduction of the printing press to London and the King James Bible, and the start of the Great Vowel Shift. Through the worldwide influence of the British Empire, modern English spread around the world from the 17th to mid-20th centuries, English is an Indo-European language, and belongs to the West Germanic group of the Germanic languages. Most closely related to English are the Frisian languages, and English, Old Saxon and its descendent Low German languages are also closely related, and sometimes Low German, English, and Frisian are grouped together as the Ingvaeonic or North Sea Germanic languages. Modern English descends from Middle English, which in turn descends from Old English, particular dialects of Old and Middle English also developed into a number of other English languages, including Scots and the extinct Fingallian and Forth and Bargy dialects of Ireland. English is classified as a Germanic language because it shares new language features with other Germanic languages such as Dutch, German and these shared innovations show that the languages have descended from a single common ancestor, which linguists call Proto-Germanic. Through Grimms law, the word for foot begins with /f/ in Germanic languages, English is classified as an Anglo-Frisian language because Frisian and English share other features, such as the palatalisation of consonants that were velar consonants in Proto-Germanic. The earliest form of English is called Old English or Anglo-Saxon, in the fifth century, the Anglo-Saxons settled Britain and the Romans withdrew from Britain. England and English are named after the Angles, Old English was divided into four dialects, the Anglian dialects, Mercian and Northumbrian, and the Saxon dialects, Kentish and West Saxon. Through the educational reforms of King Alfred in the century and the influence of the kingdom of Wessex. The epic poem Beowulf is written in West Saxon, and the earliest English poem, Modern English developed mainly from Mercian, but the Scots language developed from Northumbrian. A few short inscriptions from the period of Old English were written using a runic script. By the sixth century, a Latin alphabet was adopted, written with half-uncial letterforms and it included the runic letters wynn ⟨ƿ⟩ and thorn ⟨þ⟩, and the modified Latin letters eth ⟨ð⟩, and ash ⟨æ⟩
English language
–
The opening to the Old English epic poem
Beowulf,
handwritten in
half-uncial script: Hƿæt ƿē Gārde/na ingēar dagum þēod cyninga / þrym ge frunon... "Listen! We of the Spear-Danes from days of yore have heard of the glory of the folk-kings..."
English language
–
Countries of the world where English is a majority native language
English language
–
Title page of Geoffrey Chaucer's
Canterbury Tales c.1400
3.
Dutch language
–
It is the third most widely spoken Germanic language, after English and German. Dutch is one of the closest relatives of both German and English and is said to be roughly in between them, Dutch vocabulary is mostly Germanic and incorporates more Romance loans than German but far fewer than English. In both Belgium and the Netherlands, the official name for Dutch is Nederlands, and its dialects have their own names, e. g. Hollands, West-Vlaams. The use of the word Vlaams to describe Standard Dutch for the variations prevalent in Flanders and used there, however, is common in the Netherlands, the Dutch language has been known under a variety of names. It derived from the Old Germanic word theudisk, one of the first names used for the non-Romance languages of Western Europe. It literarily means the language of the people, that is. The term was used as opposed to Latin, the language of writing. In the first text in which it is found, dating from 784, later, theudisca appeared also in the Oaths of Strasbourg to refer to the Germanic portion of the oath. This led inevitably to confusion since similar terms referred to different languages, owing to Dutch commercial and colonial rivalry in the 16th and 17th centuries, the English term came to refer exclusively to the Dutch. A notable exception is Pennsylvania Dutch, which is a West Central German variety called Deitsch by its speakers, Jersey Dutch, on the other hand, as spoken until the 1950s in New Jersey, is a Dutch-based creole. In Dutch itself, Diets went out of common use - although Platdiets is still used for the transitional Limburgish-Ripuarian Low Dietsch dialects in northeast Belgium, Nederlands, the official Dutch word for Dutch, did not become firmly established until the 19th century. This designation had been in use as far back as the end of the 15th century, one of them was it reflected a distinction with Hoogduits, High Dutch, meaning the language spoken in Germany. The Hoog was later dropped, and thus, Duits narrowed down in meaning to refer to the German language. g, in English, too, Netherlandic is regarded as a more accurate term for the Dutch language, but is hardly ever used. Old Dutch branched off more or less around the same time Old English, Old High German, Old Frisian and Old Saxon did. During that period, it forced Old Frisian back from the western coast to the north of the Low Countries, on the other hand, Dutch has been replaced in adjacent lands in nowadays France and Germany. The division in Old, Middle and Modern Dutch is mostly conventional, one of the few moments linguists can detect somewhat of a revolution is when the Dutch standard language emerged and quickly established itself. This is assumed to have taken place in approximately the mid-first millennium BCE in the pre-Roman Northern European Iron Age, the Germanic languages are traditionally divided into three groups, East, West, and North Germanic. They remained mutually intelligible throughout the Migration Period, Dutch is part of the West Germanic group, which also includes English, Scots, Frisian, Low German and High German
Dutch language
–
The Utrecht baptismal vow Forsachistu diobolae...
Dutch language
–
Distribution of the Dutch language and its dialects in
Western Europe
Dutch language
–
Second edition of this column decorated with a title of
Charles V 's portrait, with archaic Dutch inscriptions
Dutch language
–
Dutch language street sign in the Netherlands
4.
German language
–
German is a West Germanic language that is mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, South Tyrol, the German-speaking Community of Belgium and it is also one of the three official languages of Luxembourg. Major languages which are most similar to German include other members of the West Germanic language branch, such as Afrikaans, Dutch, English, Luxembourgish and it is the second most widely spoken Germanic language, after English. One of the languages of the world, German is the first language of about 95 million people worldwide. The German speaking countries are ranked fifth in terms of publication of new books. German derives most of its vocabulary from the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family, a portion of German words are derived from Latin and Greek, and fewer are borrowed from French and English. With slightly different standardized variants, German is a pluricentric language, like English, German is also notable for its broad spectrum of dialects, with many unique varieties existing in Europe and also other parts of the world. The history of the German language begins with the High German consonant shift during the migration period, when Martin Luther translated the Bible, he based his translation primarily on the standard bureaucratic language used in Saxony, also known as Meißner Deutsch. Copies of Luthers Bible featured a long list of glosses for each region that translated words which were unknown in the region into the regional dialect. Roman Catholics initially rejected Luthers translation, and tried to create their own Catholic standard of the German language – the difference in relation to Protestant German was minimal. It was not until the middle of the 18th century that a widely accepted standard was created, until about 1800, standard German was mainly a written language, in urban northern Germany, the local Low German dialects were spoken. Standard German, which was different, was often learned as a foreign language with uncertain pronunciation. Northern German pronunciation was considered the standard in prescriptive pronunciation guides though, however, German was the language of commerce and government in the Habsburg Empire, which encompassed a large area of Central and Eastern Europe. Until the mid-19th century, it was essentially the language of townspeople throughout most of the Empire and its use indicated that the speaker was a merchant or someone from an urban area, regardless of nationality. Some cities, such as Prague and Budapest, were gradually Germanized in the years after their incorporation into the Habsburg domain, others, such as Pozsony, were originally settled during the Habsburg period, and were primarily German at that time. Prague, Budapest and Bratislava as well as cities like Zagreb, the most comprehensive guide to the vocabulary of the German language is found within the Deutsches Wörterbuch. This dictionary was created by the Brothers Grimm and is composed of 16 parts which were issued between 1852 and 1860, in 1872, grammatical and orthographic rules first appeared in the Duden Handbook. In 1901, the 2nd Orthographical Conference ended with a standardization of the German language in its written form
German language
–
Old Frisian (Alt-Friesisch)
German language
–
The widespread popularity of the
Bible translated into German by
Martin Luther helped establish modern German
German language
–
Examples of German language in
Namibian everyday life
German language
–
German-language newspapers in the U.S. in 1922
5.
Gold penny
–
The gold penny was a medieval English coin with a value of twenty pence. However, as increased, so did the need for higher value coins. In 1257 Henry instructed his goldsmith, William of Gloucester, to produce a coinage of pure gold, the gold penny was introduced, with a value of twenty pence. The gold penny was not popular, compared to its bullion weight, the coin was undervalued. By 1265, the gold in the coin was worth twenty-four pence rather than twenty, gold coins would not be minted again in England until the reign of King Edward III about 70 years later. As all the coins were recalled and melted down, the gold penny completely disappeared from view, however, in the 1700s, documentation came to light indicating that it had been minted. Inevitably, a few escaped the melt—perhaps being lost. Now, a handful of the gold pennies have come to light—possibly eight in all, herbert Grueber, A Handbook of the Coins of Great Britain and Ireland in the British Museum, London,1899
Gold penny
–
Silver
6.
Holy Roman Empire
–
The Holy Roman Empire was a multi-ethnic complex of territories in central Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806. On 25 December 800, Pope Leo III crowned the Frankish king Charlemagne as Emperor, reviving the title in Western Europe, more than three centuries after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The title was revived in 962 when Otto I was crowned emperor, fashioning himself as the successor of Charlemagne, some historians refer to the coronation of Charlemagne as the origin of the empire, while others prefer the coronation of Otto I as its beginning. Scholars generally concur, however, in relating an evolution of the institutions and principles constituting the empire, the office of Holy Roman Emperor was traditionally elective, although frequently controlled by dynasties. Emperor Francis II dissolved the empire on 6 August 1806, after the creation of the Confederation of the Rhine by Napoleon, before 1157, the realm was merely referred to as the Roman Empire. In a decree following the 1512 Diet of Cologne, the name was changed to Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, by the end of the 18th century, the term Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation had fallen out of official use. As Roman power in Gaul declined during the 5th century, local Germanic tribes assumed control, by the middle of the 8th century, however, the Merovingians had been reduced to figureheads, and the Carolingians, led by Charles Martel, had become the de facto rulers. In 751, Martel’s son Pepin became King of the Franks, the Carolingians would maintain a close alliance with the Papacy. In 768 Pepin’s son Charlemagne became King of the Franks and began an expansion of the realm. He eventually incorporated the territories of present-day France, Germany, northern Italy, on Christmas Day of 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne emperor, restoring the title in the west for the first time in over three centuries. After the death of Charles the Fat in 888, however, the Carolingian Empire broke apart, according to Regino of Prüm, the parts of the realm spewed forth kinglets, and each part elected a kinglet from its own bowels. After the death of Charles the Fat, those crowned emperor by the pope controlled only territories in Italy, the last such emperor was Berengar I of Italy, who died in 924. Around 900, autonomous stem duchies reemerged in East Francia, on his deathbed, Conrad yielded the crown to his main rival, Henry the Fowler of Saxony, who was elected king at the Diet of Fritzlar in 919. Henry reached a truce with the raiding Magyars, and in 933 he won a first victory against them in the Battle of Riade, Henry died in 936, but his descendants, the Liudolfing dynasty, would continue to rule the Eastern kingdom for roughly a century. Upon Henry the Fowlers death, Otto, his son and designated successor, was elected King in Aachen in 936 and he overcame a series of revolts from an elder brother and from several dukes. After that, the managed to control the appointment of dukes. In 951, Otto came to the aid of Adelaide, the queen of Italy, defeating her enemies, marrying her. In 955, Otto won a victory over the Magyars in the Battle of Lechfeld
Holy Roman Empire
–
The Holy Roman Empire at its maximal extent, in the 13th century
Holy Roman Empire
–
Imperial Banner
Holy Roman Empire
–
An illustration from
Schedelsche Weltchronik depicting the structure of the Reich: The Holy Roman Emperor is sitting; on his left are three ecclesiastics; on his right are four secular electors.
Holy Roman Empire
–
Double-headed eagle with coats of arms of individual states, symbol of the Holy Roman Empire (painting from 1510)
7.
Florin (Italian coin)
–
The Florentine florin was a coin struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time. It had 72 grains of pure or fine gold worth approximately 140 modern US dollars. The fiorino doro of the Republic of Florence was the first European gold coin struck in sufficient quantities to play a significant commercial role since the seventh century, in the fourteenth century, a hundred and fifty European states and local coin-issuing authorities made their own copies of the florin. The most important of these was the Hungarian forint, because the Kingdom of Hungary was a source of European gold. The design of the original Florentine florins was the distinctive fleur-de-lis badge of the city on one side, on other countries florins, the inscriptions were changed, and local heraldic devices were substituted for the fleur-de-lis. Later, other figures were often substituted for St. John, on the Hungarian forints, St. John was re-labelled St. Ladislaus, an early Christian king and patron saint of Hungary, and a battle axe substituted for the originals sceptre. Gradually the image became more regal looking, the weight of the original fiorino doro of Florence was chosen to equal the value of one lira in the local money of account in 1252. However, the content of the florin did not change while the money of account continued to inflate, by 1500. The values of other countries money continually varied against each other, Lira History of coins in Italy Soldo Venetian grosso Venetian lira Denaro Lira http, //www. gmmnut. com/gmm/sca/florin. html - See Discussion Philip Grierson. Money and its use in medieval Europe, richard A. Goldthwaite http, //www3. telus. net/Quattrocento_Florence/economy. html BROKEN as of Feb 2011 Money museum, Fiorino dOro
Florin (Italian coin)
–
The back of an Italian florin coin.
Florin (Italian coin)
–
Florin from
Środa treasure
8.
Currency sign
–
A currency symbol is a graphic symbol used as a shorthand for a currencys name, especially in reference to amounts of money. The European Commission considers the global recognition of the euro sign € part of its success, in 2009, India launched a public competition to replace the ₨ ligature it shared with neighbouring countries. It finalised its new symbol, ₹ on 15 July 2010. It is a blend of the Latin letter R with the Devanagari letter र, when writing currency amounts the location of the symbol varies by currency. Many currencies in the English-speaking world and Latin America, place it before the amount, the Cape Verdean escudo places its symbol in the decimal separator position. The usage of many European countries, such as France, Germany, the decimal separator also follows local countries standards. For instance, the United Kingdom often uses an interpunct as the point on price stickers. Commas or decimal points are common separators used in other countries, see decimal separator for information on international standards. Older currency symbols have evolved slowly, often from previous currencies, the dollar and peso symbols originated from the mark employed to denote the Spanish real de a ocho, whereas the pound and lira symbols evolved from an L standing for libra, a Roman pound of silver. Newly invented currencies and currencies adopting new symbols have symbolism closer to their adopter, the added center bar in the real sign is meant to symbolize stability. The new Indian rupee symbol, ₹, is a combination of Latin. There are also considerations, such as the perception of the business community. For a new symbol to be used, software to render it needs to be promulgated, the EU was criticized for not considering how the euro symbol would need to be customized to work in different fonts. The original design was exceptionally wide. These two factors have led to most typefaces employing customized, font-specific versions, usually with reduced width, List of currencies List of circulating currencies Currency Symbols
Currency sign
–
Official dimensions of the
euro sign
9.
Gold coin
–
A gold coin is a coin that is made mostly or entirely of gold. Traditionally, gold coins have been circulation coins, including coin-like bracteates, since recent decades, however, gold coins are mainly produced as bullion coins to investors and as commemorative coins to collectors. While also modern gold coins are legal tender, they are not observed in financial transactions. For example, the American Gold Eagle, given a denomination of 50 USD, has a value of more than 1,000 USD. The gold reserves of banks are dominated by gold bars. Gold has been used as money for many reasons and it is fungible, with a low spread between the prices to buy and sell. Gold is also easily transportable, as it has a value to weight ratio, compared to other commodities. Gold can be re-coined, divided into units, or re-melted into larger units such as gold bars. The density of gold is higher than most other metals, making it difficult to pass counterfeits, additionally, gold is extremely unreactive, hence it does not tarnish or corrode over time. Gold was used in commerce in the Ancient Near East since the Bronze Age, the name of king Croesus of Lydia remains associated with the invention. In 546 BC, Croesus was captured by the Persians, who adopted gold as the metal for their coins. Ancient Greek coinage contained a number of coins issued by the various city states. The Ying yuan is a gold coin minted in ancient China. Larger units such as the various talent measures were used for high value exchanges, the German gold mark was introduced in 1873 in the German Empire, replacing the various local Gulden coins of the Holy Roman Empire. Gold coins then had a long period as a primary form of money. Most of the world stopped making gold coins as currency by 1933, gold-colored coins have made a comeback in many currencies. However, gold coin always refers to a coin that is made of gold, furthermore, many countries continue to make legal tender gold coins, but these are primarily meant for collectors and investment purposes and are not meant for circulation. Many factors determine the value of a coin, such as its rarity, age, condition
Gold coin
–
A
20-crown gold coin from
Norway. Introduced in 1874, it became part of the
Scandinavian Monetary Union, which was based on a
gold standard.
Norwegian gold reserves included 3.50 tonnes of this and other coins.
Gold coin
–
Persian
Achaemenid Daric, circa 490 BC
Gold coin
–
Gold
Solidus of Roman Emperor
Valentinian II
Gold coin
–
Gold Guilder
10.
Early modern period
–
The early modern period of modern history follows the late Middle Ages of the post-classical era. Historians in recent decades have argued that from a worldwide standpoint, the period witnessed the exploration and colonization of the Americas and the rise of sustained contacts between previously isolated parts of the globe. The historical powers became involved in trade, as the exchange of goods, plants, animals, and food crops extended to the Old World. The Columbian Exchange greatly affected the human environment, New economies and institutions emerged, becoming more sophisticated and globally articulated over the course of the early modern period. This process began in the medieval North Italian city-states, particularly Genoa, Venice, the early modern period also included the rise of the dominance of the economic theory of mercantilism. The European colonization of the Americas, Asia, and Africa occurred during the 15th to 19th centuries, the early modern trends in various regions of the world represented a shift away from medieval modes of organization, politically and economically. Historians typically date the end of the modern period when the French Revolution of the 1790s began the modern period. Early modern themes Other In 16th century China, the Ming Dynastys economy was stimulated by trade with the Portuguese, Spanish. China became involved in a new trade of goods, plants, animals. Trade with Early Modern Europe and Japan brought in massive amounts of silver, during the last decades of the Ming the flow of silver into China was greatly diminished, thereby undermining state revenues and the entire Chinese economy. This damage to the economy was compounded by the effects on agriculture of the incipient Little Ice Age, natural calamities, crop failure, the ensuing breakdown of authority and peoples livelihoods allowed rebel leaders such as Li Zicheng to challenge Ming authority. The Ming Dynasty fell around 1644 to the Qing Dynasty, which was the last ruling dynasty of China, during its reign, the Qing Dynasty became highly integrated with Chinese culture. The Azuchi-Momoyama period saw the unification that preceded the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate. The Edo period from 1600 to 1868 characterized early modern Japan, the Tokugawa shogunate was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period gets its name from the city, Edo. The Tokugawa shogunate ruled from Edo Castle from 1603 until 1868, in 1392, General Yi Seong-gye established the Joseon Dynasty with a largely bloodless coup. Joseon experienced advances in science and culture, King Sejong the Great promulgated hangul, the Korean alphabet. The period saw various other cultural and technological advances as well as the dominance of neo-Confucianism over the entirety of Korea, during the late 16th and early 17th centuries, invasions by the neighboring Japanese and Qing Chinese nearly overran the Korean peninsula
Early modern period
–
Waldseemüller map with joint sheets, 1507
Early modern period
–
15th century Hanging Houses in
Cuenca,
Spain from the
Early Renaissance, and the Early modern period.
Early modern period
–
Gutenberg reviewing a press proof (a colored engraving created probably in the 19th century)
Early modern period
–
The
Cantino planisphere (1502), the oldest surviving Portuguese nautical chart showing the results of the explorations of
Vasco da Gama to India,
Columbus to Central America,
Gaspar Corte-Real to Newfoundland and
Pedro Álvares Cabral to Brazil. The meridian of
Tordesillas, separating the Portuguese and Spanish halves of the world is also depicted
11.
Silver coin
–
Silver coins are possibly the oldest mass-produced form of coinage. Silver has been used as a coinage metal since the times of the Greeks, the ancient Persians used silver coins between 612-330 BC. Before 1797, British pennies were made of silver, as with all collectible coins, many factors determine the value of a silver coin, such as its rarity, demand, condition and the number originally minted. Ancient silver coins coveted by collectors include the Denarius and Miliarense, while more recent collectible silver coins include the Morgan Dollar, other than collectors silver coins, silver bullion coins are popular among people who desire a hedge against currency inflation or store of value. Silver has a currency symbol of XAG under ISO4217. The earliest coins of the world were minted in the kingdom of Lydia in Asia Minor around 600 BC. The coins of Lydia were made of electrum, which is a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver, the concept of coinage, i. e. stamped lumps of metal of a specified weight, quickly spread to adjacent regions, such as Aegina. In these neighbouring regions, inhabited by Greeks, coins were made of silver. As Greek merchants traded with Greek communities throughout the Mediterranean Sea and these early Greek silver coins were denominated in staters or drachmas and its fractions. More or less simultaneously with the development of the Lydian and Greek coinages, the Chinese coins, however, were a different concept and they were made of bronze. The coins of the Greeks were issued by a number of city states. The coinage systems were not entirely the same from one place to another, however, the so-called Attic standard, Corinthian standard, Aiginetic standard and other standards defined the proper weight of each coin. Each of these standards were used in places throughout the Mediterranean region. In the 4th century BC, the Kingdom of Macedonia came to dominate the Greek world, the most powerful of their kings, Alexander the Great eventually launched an attack on the Kingdom of Persia, defeating and conquering it. Greek coins were now issued by kings, and only to an extent by cities. Greek rulers were now minting coins as far away as Egypt, the tetradrachm was a popular coin throughout the region. This era is referred to as the hellenistic era, while much of the Greek world was being transformed into monarchies, the Romans were expanding their control throughout the Italian Peninsula. The Romans minted their first coins during the early 3rd century BC, the earliest coins were - like other coins in the region - silver drachms with a supplementary bronze coinage
Silver coin
–
Silver drachma from the island of
Aegina, after 404 BC.
Silver coin
–
Dirham minted in the name of the
Aghlabid ruler
Ibrahim I (800-812) and the
Abbasid Caliph
al-Ma'mun (813-832). It is similar to regular Abbasid dirhams but showing early signs of emerging independent coin types.
Silver coin
–
A
silver coin made during the reign of the
Mughal Emperor Alamgir II.
Silver coin
–
1888 Mexican 8 Real coin with
Chinese chop marks
12.
Rhenish gulden
–
Rhenish guilder is the name of the golden, base currency coin of the Rhineland in the 14th and 15th centuries. Trier was given the privilege on 25 November 1346, Cologne on 26 November 1346, due to a lack of gold there was a shortage of guilders in the late 15th and 16th century, and they were even minted with a gold content reduced by up to a half. Rhenish gold guilders were of importance to the German monetary system until modern times. It developed into the most common long-distance trading coin in Bohemia, Hungary, Germany, Switzerland, Moravia, not only gold, but also silver coins were valued according to their value in Rhenish guilders, and thus their rate was set. The annual rent in the Augsburg Fuggerei is to this day a Rhenish guilder, when the imperial minting ordinance was passed, the silver equivalent of the gold guilder became the standard coin. The Rhenish guilder was replaced as a gold coin by the ducat. However the Rhenish guilder continued to be used as a coin, valued at 60 Kreuzer, until the 17th century
Rhenish gulden
–
Gold guilder of Mainz elector archbishop
John II of Nassau (minted around 1400 in Höchst)
13.
Basel
–
Basel is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine. Basel is Switzerlands third-most-populous city with about 175,000 inhabitants, located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany. In 2014, the Basel agglomeration was the third largest in Switzerland with a population of 537,100 in 74 municipalities in Switzerland, the official language of Basel is German, but the main spoken language is the local variant of the Alemannic Swiss German dialect. Basel has been the seat of a Prince-Bishopric since the 11th century, the city has been a commercial hub and important cultural centre since the Renaissance, and has emerged as a centre for the chemical and pharmaceutical industry in the 20th century. It hosts the oldest university of the Swiss Confederation, There are settlement traces on the Rhine knee from the early La Tène period. The unfortified settlement was abandoned in the 1st century BC in favour of an Oppidum on the site of Basel Minster, probably in reaction to the Roman invasion of Gaul. In Roman Gaul, Augusta Raurica was established some 20 km from Basel as the administrative centre. The city of Basel eventually grew around the castle, the name of Basel is derived from the Roman-era toponym Basilia, first recorded in the 3rd century. It is presumably derived from the personal name Basilius, the Old French form Basle was adopted into English, and developed into the modern French Bâle. The Icelandic name Buslaraborg goes back to the 12th century Leiðarvísir og borgarskipan, Basel was incorporated into Germania Superior in AD83. Roman control over the area deteriorated in 3rd century, and Basel became an outpost of the Provincia Maxima Sequanorum formed by Diocletian, the Alamanni attempted to cross the Rhine several times in the 4th century, but were repelled. In a great invasion of AD406, the Alemanni appear to have crossed the Rhine river a final time, conquering and then settling what is today Alsace, from this time, Basel has been an Alemannic settlement. The Duchy of Alemannia fell under Frankish rule in the 6th century, and by the 7th century, based on the evidence of a third solidus with the inscription Basilia fit, Basel seems to have minted its own coins in the 7th century. Under bishop Haito, the first cathedral was built on the site of the Roman castle, at the partition of the Carolingian Empire, Basel was first given to West Francia, but passed to East Francia with the treaty of Meerssen of 870. The city was plundered and destroyed by a Magyar invasion of 917, the rebuilt city became part of Upper Burgundy, and as such was incorporated into the Holy Roman Empire in 1032. Since the donation by Rudolph III of Burgundy of the Moutier-Grandval Abbey and all its possessions to Bishop Adalbero II in 999 till the Reformation, in 1019, the construction of the cathedral of Basel began under German Emperor Heinrich II. In 1225–1226, the Bridge over the Rhine was constructed by Bishop Heinrich von Thun, the bridge was largely funded by Basels Jewish community which had settled there a century earlier. For many centuries to come Basel possessed the only permanent bridge over the river between Lake Constance and the sea, the Bishop also allowed the furriers to found a guild in 1226
Basel
–
Basel, as seen from the
Elisabethenkirche
Basel
–
Map of Basel in 1642, engraved by
Matthäus Merian, oriented with SW at the top and NE at the bottom.
Basel
–
A panoramic view of Basel, looking North from the Münster tower over Kleinbasel (Small Basel). The blue tower in the centre, the
Messeturm, was Switzerland's tallest building 2003-10; the bridge on the extreme right is the Wettsteinbrücke, Basel's second oldest bridge, but recently replaced by a new structure. The first bridge on the left is the Mittlere Brücke (Middle or Central Bridge), the oldest bridge in Basel.
Basel
–
The
synagogue of Basel
14.
Bern
–
The city of Bern or Berne is the de facto capital of Switzerland, referred to by the Swiss as their Bundesstadt, or federal city. With a population of 141,762, Bern is the fourth-most populous city in Switzerland, the Bern agglomeration, which includes 36 municipalities, had a population of 406,900 in 2014. The metropolitan area had a population of 660,000 in 2000, Bern is also the capital of the canton of Bern, the second-most populous of Switzerlands cantons. The official language in Bern is German, but the language is an Alemannic Swiss German dialect. In 1983, the old town in the centre of Bern became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Bern is ranked among the top ten cities for the best quality of life. The etymology of the name Bern is uncertain and it has long been considered likely that the city was named after the Italian city of Verona, which at the time was known as Bern in Middle High German. As a result of the find of the Bern zinc tablet in the 1980s, it is now common to assume that the city was named after a pre-existing toponym of Celtic origin. The bear was the animal of the seal and coat of arms of Bern from at least the 1220s. The earliest reference to the keeping of bears in the Bärengraben dates to the 1440s. No archaeological evidence that indicates a settlement on the site of city centre prior to the 12th century has been found so far. In antiquity, a Celtic oppidum stood on the Engehalbinsel north of Bern, fortified since the second century BC, during the Roman era, a Gallo-Roman vicus was on the same site. The Bern zinc tablet has the name Brenodor, in the Early Middle Ages, a settlement in Bümpliz, now a city district of Bern, was some 4 km from the medieval city. The medieval city is a foundation of the Zähringer ruling family, according to 14th-century historiography, Bern was founded in 1191 by Berthold V, Duke of Zähringen. In 1218, after Berthold died without an heir, Bern was made an imperial city by the Goldene Handfeste of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II. In 1353, Bern joined the Swiss Confederacy, becoming one of the eight cantons of the period of 1353 to 1481. The city grew out towards the west of the boundaries of the peninsula formed by the river Aare, the Zytglogge tower marked the western boundary of the city from 1191 until 1256, when the Käfigturm took over this role until 1345. It was, in turn, succeeded by the Christoffelturm until 1622, during the time of the Thirty Years War, two new fortifications – the so-called big and small Schanze – were built to protect the whole area of the peninsula
Bern
–
The construction of the Untertor-bridge in Bern, Tschachtlanchronik, late 15th century
Bern
–
Aerial view of the
Old City
Bern
–
Bern in 1638
Bern
–
View of Bern from the
ISS. The Old City is in the lower, right hand side.
15.
Solothurn
–
Solothurn is a town, a municipality, and the capital of the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. It is located in the north-west of Switzerland on the banks of the Aare, the town is the only municipality of the district of the same name. The town got its name from Salodurum, a Roman-era settlement, from 1530 to 1792 it was the seat of the French ambassador to Switzerland. The pedestrian-free old town was built between 1530 and 1792 and shows an impressive array of Baroque architecture, combining Italian Grandezza, French style, the town has 18 structures listed as heritage sites. Agricultural, once the dominant sector of employment, has become almost non-existent, most people today are employed in manufacturing and education. The official language of Solothurn is German, but the spoken language is the local variant of the Alemannic Swiss German dialect. The oldest finds from Solothurn probably date from the Paleolithic era, the remains of a Mesolithic camp were discovered in 1986 during renovations of the former Kino Elite building. From the Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Age, only a few scattered items have been discovered, the Roman settlement at Solothurn was probably built around AD 15-25 as a road station and bridge head on the road from Aventicum to Augusta Raurica or Vindonissa. A small vicus or settlement quickly developed around the castrum, Solothurn is first mentioned in 219 as vico salod on the so-called Eponastein. The name may indicate either that a Celtic settlement existed on the site before or just be a testimony to the mixed Gallo-Roman culture in the north-west provinces of the Roman Empire and it came to be known as Salodurum. Its strategical importance lay in the position at the approach to the Rhine from southeast, in the 2nd-3rd Century AD, the vicus expanded rapidly to fill almost all of what is now the old town of Solothurn, including a portion of todays suburb south of the Aare. The Roman bridge was probably somewhat above the current Wengibrücke, the Roman era river bed was 40–80 meters north of the present Aare. The main street of the Vicus was well below the present main street, in addition to the normal government of the settlement, there were two mayors, and a six-member college, which was entrusted with supporting the imperial cult. Salodurum was also home to a detachment of the XXII Legion. According to inscriptions, there was a temple of Jupiter, a temple of Apollo Augustus and an altar to the goddess of horses Epona, however, the locations of those three temples is not known. There was bath house on the street and a pottery district in the northwest of the town which have been documented archaeologically. A cemetery with urns and cremation burials on the end of the Vicus was discovered in 1762-63 during the demolition of the old church of St. Ursus. In addition, two Roman tombs were discovered in the same area, around 325-350, the unfortified settlement along the road was transformed into a fortified camp or castrum, which covered only half of the former settlement area
Solothurn
–
Solothurn
Solothurn
–
Modern Wengi bridge, the Roman bridge was north of this point.
Solothurn
–
St. Victor of Solothurn
Solothurn
–
Solothurn in 1548
16.
Fribourg
–
Fribourg or Freiburg is the capital of the Swiss canton of Fribourg and the district La Sarine. Its Old City, one of the best maintained in Switzerland, the region around Fribourg has been settled since the Neolithic period, although few remains have been found. These include some flint tools found near Bourguillon, as well as a stone hatchet, a river crossing was located in the area during the Roman Era. The main activity in the Swiss plateau bypassed the area to the north, however, therefore, only a few remains from the Roman era have been found in Fribourg. These include the traces of a foundation on the plains near Pérolles. The town was founded in 1157 by Berchtold IV von Zähringen and its name is derived from German frei and Burg. Its most ancient part is located on a former peninsula of the river Sarine. The easily defended city helped the Dukes of Zähringen to strengthen, beginning at the time of its inception, Fribourg built a city-state, initially, the land it controlled lay some distance away. When the dukes of Zähringen died out in 1218, the city was transferred to the related Kybourg family and they granted the city its former privileges and wrote the municipal laws in the so-called Handfeste in 1249, in which the legal, institutional and economic organizations were established. Several treaties with neighbouring city-states, including Avenches, Berne, the city was sold to the Habsburgs in 1277. Trade and industry began as early as the mid-13th century, in the early period, Fribourg consisted of four distinct inner city districts, Burg, Au, La Neuveveville, and Spital. These expansions reflect the economic boom in Fribourg, the 14th century was dominated by trade, and cloth and leather production, which brought the city renown in Central Europe by 1370. In 1339, Fribourg participated alongside the Habsburgs and the County of Burgundy in the Battle of Laupen against Bern, the treaty with Bern was renewed in 1403. The leaders of the city began an acquisition, in which they gradually brought more nearby land under their control. This laid the ground-work for the Canton of Fribourg, by 1442 the city had control of all the land within about 20 kilometres, on both sides of the Saane. It was therefore controlled by the city leaders, not by any intermediate administration. The mid-15th century was shaped by military conflicts. First, considerable losses in a war against Savoy had to be made good, the Savoyard influence on the city grew, and the Habsburgs ceded it to them in 1452
Fribourg
–
Fribourg Freiburg
Fribourg
–
Fribourg Tour de Bourguillon
Fribourg
–
Fribourg
17.
Early modern Switzerland
–
The early modern history of the Old Swiss Confederacy and its constituent Thirteen Cantons encompasses the time of the Thirty Years War until the French invasion of 1798. The early modern period was characterized by an aristocratic and oligarchic ruling class as well as frequent economic or religious revolts. This period came to be referred to as the Ancien Régime retrospectively, the loosely organized Confederation remained generally disorganized and crippled by the religious divisions created by the Swiss Reformation. During this period the Confederation gained formal independence from the Holy Roman Empire with support from France, the early modern period also saw the growth of French-Swiss literature, and notable authors of the Age of Enlightenment such as the mathematicians of the Bernoulli family and Leonhard Euler of Basel. The Old Swiss Confederacy between phases of expansion consisted of Eight Cantons during 1352–1481, and of Thirteen Cantons from 1513 until its collapse in 1798, the Thirteen Cantons thus correspond to the sovereign territories of Early Modern Switzerland. The Reformation in Switzerland left the Old Swiss Confederacy divided between two hostile factions, but still, Switzerland remained a relative oasis of peace and prosperity while Europe was torn by the Thirty Years War. The cities generally lay low and watched the destruction from afar, the cantons had concluded numerous mercenary contracts and defence alliances with partners on all sides. At the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, the Swiss Confederacy attained legal independence from the Holy Roman Empire, during the Thirty Years War, the Drei Bünde had been caught in the middle of internal and external conflict. Because the Leagues were very decentralized, conflicts over religion and foreign policy broke out during the war, following the war the League took steps to strengthen itself. The Valtellina, which had broken from the Three Leagues, became a dependency once again after the Treaty, following the Thirty Years War, as France grew into a great power in Europe, the newly independent Confederation turned to France for trade and protection. In 1663 the Confederation agreed to a new treaty with France which granted Swiss mercenaries certain rights, however, as a consequence of this treaty Switzerland could do nothing when Louis XIV took Alsace, Franche-Comté and Strasbourg. While Louis XIV promoted a number of French pretenders to the title, in a victory for the Protestant half of the Confederation, Frederick I, who claimed his entitlement in a rather complicated fashion through the Houses of Orange and Nassau, was selected. In 1715 the Catholic cantons, to regain prestige following their defeat during the Second Battle of Villmergen, renewed the Confederations treaty with France with several major and unpopular changes. France was placed in the position of the guarantor of their freedom rights of interfering in case of attack from forces within or without the Confederation. France also promised to procure restitution for the lands lost by the Catholic cantons to the Protestant cantons and this agreement removed much of the independence that the Confederation had enjoyed. In 1777 the unpopular clause was dropped from an agreement between the Confederation and France and the independence of Switzerland was explicitly stated. Political power congealed around the 13 cantons of the old confederation, during this era, the patrician families decreased in number but increased in power. Some patrician families were drawn from leadership in the guilds or trading groups within the town, while other families grew from successful mercenary captains, the trend toward increasing authoritarianism conflicted with the history of public expression that grew out of the Swiss Reformation
Early modern Switzerland
–
The concentration of wealth among the aristocrats allowed art such as this
ballot box from Neuchâtel to be created,
Musée d'Art et d'Histoire (Neuchâtel)
Early modern Switzerland
–
Map of the Swiss Confederacy during the 18th century. Member cantons are shown in green, associates in brown, codominiums in grey.
Early modern Switzerland
–
Statue of Major Davel in front of the
Château Saint-Maire in
Lausanne
Early modern Switzerland
–
Old Swiss 10 Franc Banknote honouring
Leonhard Euler who developed many key concepts in mathematics, calculus, physics and engineering.
18.
Netherlands Indies gulden
–
The gulden was the unit of account of the Dutch East Indies from 1602 under the United East India Company, following Dutch practice first adopted in the 15th century. A variety of Dutch, Spanish and Asian coins were in official, a number of forms of payment were found throughout the archipelago prior to European contact. Stamped gold and silver masa and kupang date from the 9th century, with later coins substantially debased, with 13th-century silver masa containing only copper and it is possible that this reflected a move towards the use of lower value coins for every day transactions. 14th century documentation shows the cash coins in use, which spread to nearby islands including Sumatra. Trade with China was banned by China for substantial portions of the two centuries, and so lighter copies were made by local Chinese merchants. In the Islamic Sultanate of Palembang, these eventually became the pitis. Chinese and other Asian traders were using silver coins including the Indian Rupee. The low-valued picis had wildly fluctuating value, but were worth around 10,000 lead picis to the piece of eight around the turn of the 17th century. Due to lack of supply of the genuine Chinese copper picis, each issued 8 Real coins, while the United Amsterdam Company also issued 4,2,1, 1⁄2 and 1⁄4 Real coins. The Spanish coins remained the preferred large silver coin in the Indies until the 19th century, in 1602, the United East India Company was formed from six trading companies in the Netherlands, and granted a trade monopoly over the Indies. In 1619 the Company established its capital at Jacatra, which it called Batavia and it gradually spread its influence over Java, and established control over Sumatra in 1667 by treaty. The Companys directors, sitting in Amsterdam, adopted a unit of account system, based on a notional guilder and this followed Dutch practice, and reflected the tendency for coins to get debased over time, and hence the nominal value of a given weight of silver to increase. The rijksdaalder, with 25.7 g actual silver weight, was declared the Dutch national coin in 1606, and valued at 47 stuivers, a rate increased to 48 stuivers in 1608. The stuiver and two coins had a slightly lower silver weight than implied by this conversion rate, reflecting their utility as small change. The weight of silver equal to one unit was derived from the value in stuivers of the weight of the rijksdaalder coin. This accounting practice correctly reflected inflation over time, however the VOCs accounting guilder of 20 stuivers was fixed at the 1608 valuation of the 25. 7g rijksdaalder at 48 stuiver. In practice, the rijksdaalder proved less desirable than the better-known Spanish 8 Real coin, small change intended for local use did not need to be accepted outside the Indies, so Dutch silver 1 stuiver,2 stuiver, and 6 stuiver coins were imported. The less valuable lead picis cash coins continued to circulate, the materials for these were supplied by the Dutch
Netherlands Indies gulden
–
Netherlands Indies silver Java rupee 1803.
Netherlands Indies gulden
–
1821 Indiae Batav ½ Stuiver
Netherlands Indies gulden
–
One gulden from the first Dutch government issued paper money in the Netherlands Indies (1815).
Netherlands Indies gulden
–
25 gulden "
recepis " issued c. 1846.
19.
United East Indies Company
–
It is often considered to be the worlds first truly transnational corporation and the first company in history to actually issue bonds and shares of stock to the general public. In other words, the VOC was officially the first publicly traded company of the world, the company was also considered by many to be the very first major and the greatest corporation in history. Statistically, the VOC eclipsed all of its rivals in international trade for almost 200 years of existence. Between 1602 and 1796 the VOC sent almost a million Europeans to work in the Asia trade on 4,785 ships, the VOC enjoyed huge profits from its spice monopoly through most of the 17th century. Having been set up in 1602, to profit from the Malukan spice trade, in 1619 the VOC established a capital in the city of Jayakarta. Over the next two centuries the Company acquired additional ports as trading bases and safeguarded their interests by taking over surrounding territory and it remained an important trading concern and paid an 18% annual dividend for almost 200 years. Around the world and especially in English-speaking countries, the VOC is widely known as the Dutch East India Company, the name ‘Dutch East India Company’ is used to make a distinction with the East India Company and other East Indian companies. The abbreviation VOC stands for Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie or Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie in Dutch, the VOC monogram was possibly the first globally-recognized corporate logo. The logo of the VOC consisted of a large capital V with an O on the left and it appeared on various corporate items, such as cannon and coins. The first letter of the hometown of the conducting the operation was placed on top. An Australian vintner has used the VOC logo since the late 20th century, the flag of the company was orange, white, and blue, with the company logo embroidered on it. Before the Dutch Revolt, Antwerp had played an important role as a centre in northern Europe. At the same time, the Portuguese trade system was unable to supply to satisfy growing demand. Demand for spices was relatively inelastic, and therefore each lag in the supply of pepper caused a rise in pepper prices. These three factors motivated Dutch merchants to enter the spice trade themselves. Further, a number of Dutchmen like Jan Huyghen van Linschoten and Cornelis de Houtman obtained first hand knowledge of the secret Portuguese trade routes and practices, thereby providing opportunity. The stage was set for Houtmans 1595 four-ship exploratory expedition to Banten, the main pepper port of West Java. Houtmans expedition then sailed east along the north coast of Java, losing twelve crew to a Javanese attack at Sidayu, half the crew were lost before the expedition made it back to the Netherlands the following year, but with enough spices to make a considerable profit
United East Indies Company
–
The shipyard of the Dutch East India Company in Amsterdam. 1726 engraving by
Joseph Mulder.
United East Indies Company
–
Dutch East India Company
United East Indies Company
–
A
bond issued by the Dutch East India Company, dating from 7 November 1623, for the amount of 2,400
florins
United East Indies Company
–
VOC headquarters in Amsterdam
20.
Dutch guilder
–
The Dutch guilder or fl. was the currency of the Netherlands from the 17th century until 2002, when it was replaced by the euro. Between 1999 and 2002, the guilder was officially a national subunit of the euro, however, physical payments could only be made in guilder, as no euro coins or banknotes were available. The Netherlands Antillean guilder is still in use in Curaçao and Sint Maarten, in 2004, the Surinamese guilder was replaced by the Surinamese dollar. The Dutch name gulden was a Middle Dutch adjective meaning golden, the symbol ƒ or fl. for the Dutch guilder was derived from another old currency, the florin, called the florin in English. The exact exchange rate, still relevant for old contracts and for exchange of the old currency for euros at the bank, is 2.20371 Dutch guilders for 1 euro. Inverted, this gives EUR0.453780 for NLG1, before the introduction of the first guilder, there were regional and foreign golden coins that were likely referred to as gulden in Dutch. The first internationally accepted Dutch coin called gulden dates from 1517, even before that, the County of Holland had minted golden coins since 1378. An early guilder, a 10. 61-gram.910 silver coin, was minted by the States of Holland and this guilder was divided into 20 stuivers, each of 8 duiten or 16 penningen. The guilder gradually replaced other silver coin circulating in the United Netherlands, the florijn, the daalder, the rijksdaalder, the silver ducat. Between 1810 and 1814, the Netherlands was annexed to France, after the Napoleonic wars, the Kingdom of the Netherlands readopted the guilder. In 1817 it became decimalised, with one guilder equal to 100 cents, until 1948, the plural of cent used on coins was centen, after that it was cent. The Netherlands was initially on a standard, with the guilder equal to 605.61 milligrams of fine gold or 9.615 grams of fine silver. In 1840, the standard was adjusted to 9.45 grams. In 1875, the Netherlands adopted a standard with 1 guilder equal to 604.8 milligrams of fine gold. The gold standard was suspended between 1914 and 1925 and was abandoned in 1936, following the German occupation, on 10 May 1940, the guilder was pegged to the Reichsmark at a rate of 1 guilder =1.5 Reichsmark. This rate was reduced to 1.327 on 17 July of the same year, the liberating Allied forces set an exchange rate of 2.652 guilders =1 U. S. dollar, which became the peg for the guilder within the Bretton Woods system. In 1949, the peg was changed to 3.8 guilders =1 dollar, in 1961, the guilder was revalued to 3.62 guilders =1 dollar, a change approximately in line with that of the German mark. After 1967 guilders were made from nickel instead of silver, in 2002, the guilder was replaced by the euro at an exchange rate of 2.20371 guilders =1 Euro
Dutch guilder
–
1967 one-guilder coin
Dutch guilder
–
William III of the Netherlands depicted on a 20-guilder proof gold coin (1850)
Dutch guilder
–
Zinc coins minted in the 1940s during the German occupation of the Netherlands (obverse).
Dutch guilder
–
Zinc coins minted in the 1940s during the German occupation of the Netherlands (reverse).
21.
States of Holland and West Friesland
–
The States of Holland and West Frisia were the representation of the two Estates to the court of the Count of Holland. After the United Provinces were formed — and there no longer was a count, more powerful cities were allowed to send more representatives — Amsterdam had a delegation of four — but these then together had only one vote. All members of the States were appointed officials, including the Lands Advocate or Grand Pensionary, the Lands Advocate or Grand Pensionary was nearly always a previous pensionary of a city. Very important matters, such as taxation, had to be decided on unanimously but normally decisions were made by majority. He had literally both the first — as representing the nobility vote — and the last say in a meeting, since the death of Johan van Oldebarnevelt any Prince of Orange also being stadtholder indirectly had much power over the States. He had the right to appoint the mayors of all cities, mayors of cities with city rights chose the officials who served as representatives in the States of Holland. The States of Holland were disbanded during the reforms by the Batavian Republic, the States of Holland should not be confused with the States-General, or Staten-Generaal, the confederate government of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands as a whole. Each of the Netherlands had its own States and Holland was just one of seven, nevertheless this province was so dominant that a politician controlling the States of Holland by being Lands Advocate of Holland or Grand Pensionary, in fact controlled the Republic. Johan de Witt is a case in point, and Johan van Oldebarnevelt another famous example, first mentioned in 1428, the States of Holland continued to exist until 1795 when the Batavian Republic was established under French rule
States of Holland and West Friesland
–
Meeting of the States of Holland and West Friesland (Staten van Holland en West-Friesland) in 1625
States of Holland and West Friesland
–
Philip the Good
States of Holland and West Friesland
–
Johan van Oldenbarnevelt
22.
British Guianan guilder
–
The guilder was the currency of British Guiana between 1796 and 1839. The guilder replaced the Dutch guilder at par after the colonies were captured by the British from the Dutch, the guilder was initially subdivided into 20 stuiver, in English stiver. Brazilian pecas, known locally as joes, circulated at a value of 22 guilders, the exchange rate to the British pound was initially fixed at 1 pound =12 guilders. The first issue of coins from 1798 and 1799 were overstamps on Brazilian pecas and these were followed in 1808 by an issue which consisted of holed Spanish dollars, worth 3 guilders, and the plugs, worth 3 bits. In 1809, regular coins were issued for Essequibo and Demerara in denominations of ¼, ½,1,2 and 3 guilders, followed in 1813 by ½ and 1 stiver coins,1836 saw the introduction of a new series of coins denominated solely in guilders. This year also saw the first production of coins by the British Royal Mint for use in British Guiana which did not bear any indication of where the coins were to circulate. Twopenny coins were issued in the way from 1838. In the 1830s, the colonies issued paper money denominated in joes, there were notes of 1,2,3 and 10 joes. It wasn’t until 1916 that the Government of British Guiana begin issuing dollar-denominated banknotes, banknotes produced specifically for British Guiana ceased in 1942, and were replaced by British West Indies dollars in 1951. In 1955, the British West Indies dollar was decimalized and issued in the name of the British Caribbean Territories, Eastern Group
British Guianan guilder
–
Demerary and Essequebo, 10 Joes (220 Guilders)(1830s)
23.
British Guiana
–
British Guiana was the name of the British colony on the northern coast of South America, since 1966 known as the independent nation of Guyana. Its indigenous people are the Arawak-speaking Lucayan, part of the Taino people, the first European to discover Guiana was Sir Walter Raleigh, an English explorer. The Dutch were the first Europeans to settle there, starting in the early 17th century, in 1796, Great Britain took over these three colonies during hostilities with the French, who had occupied the Netherlands. Britain returned control to the Batavian Republic in 1802, but captured the colonies a year later during the Napoleonic Wars, the colonies were officially ceded to the United Kingdom in 1814, and consolidated into a single colony in 1831. The colonys capital was at Georgetown, as the British developed the colony for sugarcane plantations, they imported many Africans as slave labour. The economy became more diversified since the late 19th century, but has relied on resource exploitation, Guyana became independent of the United Kingdom on 26 May 1966. The Dutch West India Company founded a colony, Demerara. During the French Revolutionary Wars of the late 18th century, when the Netherlands were occupied by the French, a British expeditionary force was dispatched from its colony of Barbados to seize the colonies from the French-dominated Batavian Republic. The colonies surrendered without a struggle, initially very little changed, as the British agreed to allow the long-established laws of the colonies to remain in force. In 1802 Britain returned the colonies to the Batavian Republic under the terms of the Treaty of Amiens, but, after resuming hostilities with France in the Napoleonic Wars in 1803, Britain seized the colonies again less than a year later. The three colonies were ceded to the United Kingdom in the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814. The UK continued separate administration of the colonies until 1822. In 1831, the administration Essequibo-Demerara and Berbice was combined, the economy of British Guiana was completely based on sugarcane production until the 1880s, when falling cane sugar prices stimulated a shift toward rice farming, mining and forestry. However, sugarcane remained a significant part of the economy, under the Dutch, settlement and economic activity was concentrated around sugarcane plantations lying inland from the coast. Under the British, cane planting expanded to coastal lands. Until the abolition of slavery in the British Empire, sugar planters depended almost exclusively on slave labour to produce sugar, Georgetown was the site of a significant slave rebellion in 1823. In the 1880s gold and diamond deposits were discovered in British Guiana, bauxite deposits proved more promising and would remain an important part of the economy. The colony did not develop any significant manufacturing industry, other than sugar factories, rice mills, sawmills, the London-based Booker Group of companies dominated the economy of British Guiana
British Guiana
–
British Guiana and its boundary lines, 1896
British Guiana
–
Flag
24.
Bavaria
–
Bavaria is a free state and one of 16 federal states of Germany. Located in the German southeast with an area of 70,548 square kilometres and its territory comprises roughly a fifth of the total land area of Germany, and, with 12.9 million inhabitants, it is Germanys second most populous state. Munich, Bavarias capital and largest city, is the third largest city in Germany, the Duchy of Bavaria dates back to the year 555. In the 17th century CE, the Duke of Bavaria became a Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Bavaria existed from 1806 to 1918, when Bavaria became a republic. In 1946, the Free State of Bavaria re-organised itself on democratic lines after the Second World War, Bavaria has a unique culture, largely because of the states Catholic majority and conservative traditions. Bavarians have traditionally been proud of their culture, which includes such as Oktoberfest. The state also has the second largest economy among the German states by GDP figures, modern Bavaria also includes parts of the historical regions of Franconia, Upper Palatinate and Swabia. The Bavarians emerged in a north of the Alps, previously inhabited by Celts. The Bavarians spoke Old High German but, unlike other Germanic groups, rather, they seem to have coalesced out of other groups left behind by Roman withdrawal late in the 5th century. These peoples may have included the Celtic Boii, some remaining Romans, Marcomanni, Allemanni, Quadi, Thuringians, Goths, Scirians, Rugians, the name Bavarian means Men of Baia which may indicate Bohemia, the homeland of the Celtic Boii and later of the Marcomanni. They first appear in written sources circa 520, a 17th century Jewish chronicler David Solomon Ganz, citing Cyriacus Spangenberg, claimed that the diocese was named after an ancient Bohemian king, Boiia, in the 14th century BCE. From about 554 to 788, the house of Agilolfing ruled the Duchy of Bavaria and their daughter, Theodelinde, became Queen of the Lombards in northern Italy and Garibald was forced to flee to her when he fell out with his Frankish overlords. Garibalds successor, Tassilo I, tried unsuccessfully to hold the frontier against the expansion of Slavs. Tassilos son Garibald II seems to have achieved a balance of power between 610 and 616, after Garibald II little is known of the Bavarians until Duke Theodo I, whose reign may have begun as early as 680. From 696 onwards he invited churchmen from the west to organize churches and his son, Theudebert, led a decisive Bavarian campaign to intervene in a succession dispute in the Lombard Kingdom in 714, and married his sister Guntrud to the Lombard King Liutprand. At Theodos death the duchy was divided among his sons, at Hugberts death the duchy passed to a distant relative named Odilo, from neighbouring Alemannia. He was defeated near Augsburg in 743 but continued to rule until his death in 748, saint Boniface completed the peoples conversion to Christianity in the early 8th century. Bavaria was in ways affected by the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century
Bavaria
–
Prehistoric Heunischenburg, in the vicinity of
Kronach
Bavaria
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Flag
Bavaria
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Kingdom of Bavaria 900
Bavaria
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Bavarian stamps during the German empire period
25.
Austria-Hungary
–
The union was a result of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 and came into existence on 30 March 1867. Austria-Hungary consisted of two monarchies, and one region, the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia under the Hungarian crown. It was ruled by the House of Habsburg, and constituted the last phase in the evolution of the Habsburg Monarchy. Following the 1867 reforms, the Austrian and the Hungarian states were co-equal, Foreign affairs and the military came under joint oversight, but all other governmental faculties were divided between respective states. Austria-Hungary was a state and one of the worlds great powers at the time. Austria-Hungary was geographically the second-largest country in Europe after the Russian Empire, at 621,538 km2, the Empire built up the fourth-largest machine building industry of the world, after the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom. After 1878, Bosnia and Herzegovina was under Austro-Hungarian military and civilian rule until it was annexed in 1908. The annexation of Bosnia also led to Islam being recognized as a state religion due to Bosnias Muslim population. Austria-Hungary was one of the Central Powers in World War I and it was already effectively dissolved by the time the military authorities signed the armistice of Villa Giusti on 3 November 1918. The realms full, official name was The Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council, each enjoyed considerable sovereignty with only a few joint affairs. Certain regions, such as Polish Galicia within Cisleithania and Croatia within Transleithania, enjoyed autonomous status, the division between Austria and Hungary was so marked that there was no common citizenship, one was either an Austrian citizen or a Hungarian citizen, never both. This also meant that there were always separate Austrian and Hungarian passports, however, neither Austrian nor Hungarian passports were used in the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia-Dalmatia. Instead, the Kingdom issued its own passports which were written in Croatian and French and it is not known what kind of passports were used in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which was under the control of both Austria and Hungary. The Kingdom of Hungary had always maintained a separate parliament, the Diet of Hungary, the administration and government of the Kingdom of Hungary remained largely untouched by the government structure of the overarching Austrian Empire. Hungarys central government structures remained well separated from the Austrian imperial government, the country was governed by the Council of Lieutenancy of Hungary – located in Pressburg and later in Pest – and by the Hungarian Royal Court Chancellery in Vienna. The Hungarian government and Hungarian parliament were suspended after the Hungarian revolution of 1848, despite Austria and Hungary sharing a common currency, they were fiscally sovereign and independent entities. Since the beginnings of the union, the government of the Kingdom of Hungary could preserve its separated. After the revolution of 1848–1849, the Hungarian budget was amalgamated with the Austrian, from 1527 to 1851, the Kingdom of Hungary maintained its own customs controls, which separated her from the other parts of the Habsburg-ruled territories
Austria-Hungary
–
Franz Joseph I. (1885)
Austria-Hungary
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Civil Ensign
Austria-Hungary
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Austrian Parliament Building
Austria-Hungary
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Hungarian Parliament Building
26.
Austro-Hungarian gulden
–
The Gulden or forint was the currency of the lands of the House of Habsburg between 1754 and 1892, when it was replaced by the Krone/korona as part of the introduction of the gold standard. In Austria, the Gulden was initially divided into 60 Kreuzer, and in Hungary, the currency was decimalized in 1857, using the same names for the unit and subunit. The name Gulden was used on the pre-1867 Austrian banknotes and on the German language side of the post-1867 banknotes, in southern Germany, the word Gulden was the standard word for a major currency unit. The name Florin was used on Austrian coins and forint was used on the Hungarian language side of the post-1867 banknotes and it comes from the city of Florence, Italy where the first florins were minted. Until 1806, Austria was the state of the Holy Roman Empire. Following the winding up of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, in 1857, the Vereinsthaler was introduced across the German Confederation and Austria-Hungary, with a silver content of 16 2⁄3 grams. This was slightly less than 1 1⁄2 times the content of the Gulden. Consequently, Austria-Hungary adopted a new standard for the Gulden, containing two-thirds as much silver as the Vereinsthaler and this involved a debasement of the currency of 4. 97%. Austria-Hungary also decimalized at the time, resulting in a new currency system of 100 Kreuzer =1 Gulden. In 1892 the Austro-Hungarian Gulden was replaced by the Krone, at a rate of 2 Krone =1 Gulden, copper coins were initially issued in denominations of 1 Heller up to 1 Kreuzer, with silver coins in denominations from 3 Kreuzer up to 1 Conventionsthaler. The Turkish and Napoleonic Wars led to issues in various denominations. These included a 12 Kreuzer coin which only contained 6 Kreuzer worth of silver and was later overstruck to produce a 7 Kreuzer coin, in 1807, copper coins were issued in denominations of 15 and 30 Kreuzer by the Wiener Stadt Banco. These issues were tied in value to the paper money. The coinage returned to its state after 1814. The only copper coin was a poltura worth 1 1⁄2 krajczár, whilst there were silver 3,5,10,20 and 30 krajczár, all issues ceased in 1794 and did not resume until 1830, when silver coins of 20 krajczár and above were issued. Only in 1868, following the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, did an issue of coins for Hungary begin. Denominations were fewer than in Austria, with copper 1⁄2,1 and 4 krajczár, silver 10 and 20 krajczár and 1 forint, between 1759 and 1811, the Wiener Stadt Banco issued paper money denominated in Gulden. However, the banknotes were not tied to the coinage and their values floated relative to one another, in 1858, new notes were issued denominated in Austrian Currency rather than Convention Currency
Austro-Hungarian gulden
–
1000 Gulden/forint banknote (1880)
Austro-Hungarian gulden
Austro-Hungarian gulden
27.
Austrian Empire
–
The Austrian Empire was an empire in Central Europe created out of the realms of the Habsburgs by proclamation in 1804. It was an empire and one of Europes great powers. Geographically it was the second largest country in Europe after the Russian Empire and it was also the third most populous after Russia and France, as well as the largest and strongest country in the German Confederation. Proclaimed in response to the First French Empire, it overlapped with the Holy Roman Empire until the dissolution in 1806. The Ausgleich of 1867 elevated Hungarys status and it became a separate entity from the Empire entirely, joining with it in the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary. Changes shaping the nature of the Holy Roman Empire took place during conferences in Rastatt, on 24 March 1803, the Imperial Recess was declared, which reduced the number of ecclesiastical states from 81 to only 3 and the free imperial cities from 51 to 6. This measure was aimed at replacing the old constitution of the Holy Roman Empire, taking this significant change into consideration, the German Emperor Francis II created the title Emperor of Austria, for himself and his successors. In 1804 the Holy Roman Emperor Francis II, who was ruler of the lands of the Habsburg Monarchy, founded the Empire of Austria. In doing so he created a formal overarching structure for the Habsburg Monarchy, to safeguard his dynastys imperial status he adopted the additional hereditary title of Emperor of Austria. Hungarys affairs remained administered by its own institutions as they had been beforehand, thus under the new arrangements no Imperial institutions were involved in its internal government. The fall and dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire was accelerated by French intervention in the Empire in September 1805, on 20 October 1805, an Austrian army led by general Karl Mack von Leiberich was defeated by French armies near the town of Ulm. The French victory resulted in the capture of 20,000 Austrian soldiers, Napoleons army won another victory at Austerlitz on 2 December 1805. Francis was forced into negotiations with the French from 4 to 6 December 1805, the French victories encouraged rulers of certain imperial territories to assert their formal independence from the Empire. On 10 December 1805, the prince-elector Duke of Bavaria proclaimed himself King, finally, on 12 December, the Margrave of Baden was given the title of Grand Duke. In addition, each of these new countries signed a treaty with France, the Treaty of Pressburg between France and Austria, signed in Pressburg on 26 December, enlarged the territory of Napoleons German allies at the expense of defeated Austria. Certain Austrian holdings in Germany were passed to French allies—the King of Bavaria, the King of Württemberg, Austrian claims on those German states were renounced without exception. On 12 July 1806, the Confederation of the Rhine was established, comprising 16 sovereigns and this confederation, under French influence, put an end to the Holy Roman Empire. On 6 August 1806, even Francis recognized the new state of things and proclaimed the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, as he did not want Napoleon to succeed him
Austrian Empire
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Metternich in later years
Austrian Empire
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Flag
Austrian Empire
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Ethnographic composition of the Austrian Empire.
Austrian Empire
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'Hauskrone' of Rudolph II, later Imperial Crown of the Austrian Empire
28.
Danzig gulden
–
The gulden was the currency of the Free City of Danzig between 1923 and 1939. It was divided into 100 pfennige, until 1923, Danzig used the German papiermark and issued several local emergency notes. Inflation during 1922–23 averaged roughly 2440% per month, in July 1923 it was announced that a new and independent currency was being established with the approval of the League of Nations finance committee to replace the German mark. The gulden was introduced at a value of 25 gulden =1 pound sterling.70 reichsmark and this was a favourable exchange rate for inhabitants of Danzig, since the actual exchange rate was around 0.47 reichsmark per gulden. To prevent abuse on 7 September the import of gulden coins, Bank assets were however converted at the market rate of 0.47 reichsmark per gulden. With effect on 7 September 1939, coins of 1 and 2 pfennige became legal tender throughout Nazi Germany as 1 and 2 reichspfennige, on 30 September the reichsmark became the sole currency on the territory of the former free city. Notes and coins of 5 and 10 gulden were withdrawn that day, coins of 5 and 10 pfennig and 1⁄2 and 1 gulden remained in circulation until 25 June 1940 and were redeemed until 25 July. A first series of coins was issued in 1923, followed by a second in 1932, coins were issued in denominations of 1,2,5 and 10 pfennige and 1⁄2,1,2,5,10 and 25 gulden. The 25-gulden coins were minted in gold, produced in very small numbers in 1923 and 1930, the latter dates issue was only released as a few presentation pieces. As part of the 1923 are 200 proof coins and, while available to collectors, are very expensive, the first Danzig gulden banknotes were issued by the Danzig Central Finance Department and dated 22 October 1923 with a second issue dated 1 November 1923. Denominations for both series included 1,2,5,10,25, and 50-pfennige notes, as well as 1,2, in addition, the first issue contained 10 and 25-gulden notes, and the second issue contained 50 and 100-gulden notes. The Bank of Danzig was capitalized with £300,000 on 5 February 1924, the Bank of Danzig issued four series of gulden with an initial issue date of 10 February 1924. Standard Catalog of World Paper Money General Issues, the Danzig Dilemma – A Study in Peacemaking by Compromise. The Silver Bull Market, Investing in the Other Gold
Danzig gulden
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20 gulden (1937)
Danzig gulden
Danzig gulden
–
1 pfennig
Danzig gulden
–
2 pfennige
29.
Euro
–
Outside of Europe, a number of overseas territories of EU members also use the euro as their currency. Additionally,210 million people worldwide as of 2013 use currencies pegged to the euro, the euro is the second largest reserve currency as well as the second most traded currency in the world after the United States dollar. The name euro was adopted on 16 December 1995 in Madrid. The euro was introduced to world markets as an accounting currency on 1 January 1999. While the euro dropped subsequently to US$0.8252 within two years, it has traded above the U. S. dollar since the end of 2002, peaking at US$1.6038 on 18 July 2008. In July 2012, the euro fell below US$1.21 for the first time in two years, following concerns raised over Greek debt and Spains troubled banking sector, as of 26 March 2017, the euro–dollar exchange rate stands at ~ US$1.07. The euro is managed and administered by the Frankfurt-based European Central Bank, as an independent central bank, the ECB has sole authority to set monetary policy. The Eurosystem participates in the printing, minting and distribution of notes and coins in all states. The 1992 Maastricht Treaty obliges most EU member states to adopt the euro upon meeting certain monetary and budgetary convergence criteria, all nations that have joined the EU since 1993 have pledged to adopt the euro in due course. Since 5 January 2002, the central banks and the ECB have issued euro banknotes on a joint basis. Euro banknotes do not show which central bank issued them, Eurosystem NCBs are required to accept euro banknotes put into circulation by other Eurosystem members and these banknotes are not repatriated. The ECB issues 8% of the value of banknotes issued by the Eurosystem. In practice, the ECBs banknotes are put into circulation by the NCBs and these liabilities carry interest at the main refinancing rate of the ECB. The euro is divided into 100 cents, in Community legislative acts the plural forms of euro and cent are spelled without the s, notwithstanding normal English usage. Otherwise, normal English plurals are used, with many local variations such as centime in France. All circulating coins have a side showing the denomination or value. Due to the plurality in the European Union, the Latin alphabet version of euro is used. For the denominations except the 1-, 2- and 5-cent coins, beginning in 2007 or 2008 the old map is being replaced by a map of Europe also showing countries outside the Union like Norway
Euro
–
The
central bank has
its seat in
Frankfurt (Germany) and is in charge of the monetary policy of the
euro area.
Euro
–
Euro banknotes as of 2015
Euro
–
Euro coins and banknotes of various denominations.
30.
Netherlands Antillean guilder
–
The Netherlands Antillean guilder is the currency of Curaçao and Sint Maarten, which until 2010 formed the Netherlands Antilles along with Bonaire, Saba, and Sint Eustatius. It is subdivided into 100 cents, the guilder was replaced by the US dollar on 1 January 2011 on Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius. On Curaçao and Sint Maarten, the Netherlands Antillean guilder is planned to be replaced by the newly created Caribbean guilder, in Papiamentu, the local language of Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao, the guilder is called a florin. The ISO-4217 code, ANG, is derived from ANtilliaanse Gulden, while the currency symbol, in the 18th century, the Dutch guilder circulated in the Netherlands Antilles. This was supplemented in 1794 by an issue of coins specific for the Dutch holdings in the West Indies, at this time, the guilder was subdivided into 20 stuiver. Between 1799 and 1828, the reaal circulated on the islands, the Dutch guilder was reintroduced in 1828, now subdivided into 100 cents. The name Netherlands Antilles was introduced in 1952, in 1940, following the German occupation of the Netherlands, the link to the Dutch currency was broken, with a peg to the U. S. dollar of 1.88585 guilders =1 dollar established. The peg was adjusted to 1.79 guilders =1 dollar in 1971, since then it has been updated to 1.77 guilders =1 dollar but unsure of the date. In 1986, Aruba gained a status aparte and thereby left the Netherlands Antilles, shortly after that, Aruba began to issue its own currency, the Aruban florin, which replaced the Netherlands Antillean guilder at par. In 1892, the Curaçaosche Bank introduced notes in denominations of 25 and 50 cents,1 and this was the only issue of the cent denominations. Notes for 5,10,25,50,100,250 and 500 guilders followed in 1900, the 1 and 2 1⁄2 guilder notes were suspended after 1920 but reintroduced by the government in 1942 as muntbiljet. From 1954, the name Nederlandse Antillen appeared on the reverse of the notes of the Curaçaosche Bank and, from 1955, in 1962, the banks name was changed to the Bank van de Nederlandse Antillen. Starting in 1969, notes dated 28 AUGUSTUS1967 began to be introduced, the front of these notes all feature the Statuut monument at front left instead of the allegorical seated woman found on the preceding issues, and on the back there is a new coat of arms. In 1970, an issue of muntbiljet was made in denominations of both 1 and 2 1⁄2 guilders. The 500 guilder note was not issued after 1962, economy of the Netherlands Antilles Central banks and currencies of the Caribbean Banknotes of the Netherlands Antilles
Netherlands Antillean guilder
–
Modern 10 guilder bill, in circulation 2009
Netherlands Antillean guilder
Netherlands Antillean guilder
31.
Dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles
–
The Netherlands Antilles was an autonomous Caribbean country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was dissolved on 10 October 2010, the idea of the Netherlands Antilles as a country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands never enjoyed the full support of all islands, and political relations between islands were often strained. Geographically, the Leeward Antilles islands of Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire, on the other hand, the Netherlands became more and more aware that the ties with the Caribbean parts of the Kingdom would probably endure for a longer period of time. Aruba and the Netherlands agreed in July 1990 to delete Article 62 and this was finalized in 1994, with some conditions about cooperation in the fields of justice, good governance and finance. Meanwhile, the permanent position of Aruba as a country within the Kingdom led to calls for a similar arrangement for the other islands. In the early 1990s, the five remaining islands entered into a period of reflection about whether or not to part of the Netherlands Antilles. This proposal met with mixed responses on the islands, after a committee was installed investigating the future of the Netherlands Antilles, a Conference on the Future was held in 1993. It was decided to postpone the meeting of the conference until after a status referendum was held on Curaçao. The other islands voted for maintaining the Netherlands Antilles. The Party for the Restructured Antilles, composed of campaigners in favour of maintaining and restructuring the Netherlands Antilles, in the end, restructuring the Netherlands Antilles did not get very far. Probably the most symbolic change was the adoption of an anthem of the Netherlands Antilles in 2000, in the same year another status vote was held on Sint Maarten, this time in favour of becoming a country of its own within the Kingdom. This sparked a new referendum cycle across the Netherlands Antilles, at the same time, a commission composed of representatives from the Netherlands and all the islands of the Netherlands Antilles investigated the future of the Netherlands Antilles. The referendum held on Curaçao in 2005 also came out in favour of country status, all other islands voted for closer ties with the Netherlands, except for Sint Eustatius, which wanted to retain the Netherlands Antilles. Following the referendums on all islands, the first Round Table Conference between the islands, the Netherlands Antillean government, and the Netherlands was organized on 26 November 2005. It was agreed that Curaçao and Sint Maarten should become countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands and these agreements were worked out in the following year. At a Mini Round Table held on 11 October 2006, a agreement was signed. A closing agreement was reached with Curaçao and Sint Maarten on 2 November and this agreement included specifics on the workings of the Board for Financial Supervision. The closing agreements were ratified by the Netherlands and the islands, except by Curaçao
Dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles
–
Map of the
Kingdom of the Netherlands. The
Netherlands and the Caribbean islands are to the same scale.
32.
Sint Maarten
–
Sint Maarten is an island country in the Caribbean. It is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, before 10 October 2010, Sint Maarten was known as the Island Territory of Sint Maarten, and was one of five island territories that constituted the Netherlands Antilles. However, though he claimed it as a Spanish territory, Columbus never landed there, the French and Dutch, on the other hand, both coveted the island. While the French wanted to colonize the islands between Trinidad and Bermuda, the Dutch found San Martín a convenient halfway point between their colonies in New Amsterdam and Brazil. With few people inhabiting the island, the Dutch easily founded a settlement there in 1631, jan Claeszen Van Campen became its first governor, and soon thereafter the Dutch West India Company began its salt mining operations. French and British settlements sprang up on the island as well, taking note of these successful colonies and wanting to maintain their control of the salt trade, the Spanish now found St. Martin much more appealing. The Eighty Years War which had been raging between Spain and the Netherlands provided further incentive to attack, Spanish forces captured Saint Martin from the Dutch in 1633, seizing control and driving most or all of the colonists off the island. At Point Blanche, they built what is now Old Spanish Fort to secure the territory, although the Dutch retaliated in several attempts to win back St. Martin, they failed. Fifteen years after the Spanish conquered the island, the Eighty Years War ended, since they no longer needed a base in the Caribbean and St. Martin barely turned a profit, the Spanish lost their inclination to continue defending it. In 1648, they deserted the island, with St. Martin free again, both the Dutch and the French jumped at the chance to re-establish their settlements. Dutch colonists came from St. Eustatius, while the French came from St. Kitts, after some initial conflict, both sides realized that neither would yield easily. Preferring to avoid a war, they signed the Treaty of Concordia in 1648. During the treatys negotiation, the French had a fleet of ships off shore. In spite of the treaty, relations between the two sides were not always cordial, between 1648 and 1816, conflicts changed the border sixteen times. The entire island came under effective French control from 1795 when Netherlands became a state under the French Empire until 1815. In the end, the French came out ahead with 53 km2 against 34 km2 on the Dutch side, with the new cultivation of cotton, tobacco, and sugar, the French and the Dutch imported a massive number of slaves to work on the plantations. The slave population grew larger than that of the land owners. Subjected to cruel treatment, slaves staged rebellions, and their overwhelming numbers made it impossible to ignore their concerns, in 1848, the French abolished slavery in their colonies including the French side of St. Martin
Sint Maarten
–
The Courthouse in Philipsburg is one of the symbols of Sint Maarten.
Sint Maarten
–
Flag
Sint Maarten
–
Dutch side.
Sint Maarten
–
Corsairfly Airbus A330-200 on
short final over
Maho Beach.
33.
Caribbean Netherlands
–
The Caribbean Netherlands are the three special municipalities of the Netherlands that are located in the Caribbean Sea. They consist of the islands of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba, in legislation, the three islands are also known as the BES islands. The islands are classified as public bodies in the Netherlands and as overseas countries and territories of the European Union, thus. Bonaire is one of the Leeward Antilles and is located close to the coast of Venezuela, Sint Eustatius and Saba are in the main Lesser Antilles group and are located south of Sint Maarten and northwest of Saint Kitts and Nevis. The three islands gained their current status following the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles on 10 October 2010, at the same time, the islands of Curaçao and Sint Maarten became autonomous countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The island of Aruba is also a constituent country of the Kingdom located in the Caribbean, the term Dutch Caribbean may refer to the three special municipalities, but may also refer to all of the Caribbean islands within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The population of the BES islands is 21,000 and their total area is 328 square kilometres. The islands of the Caribbean Netherlands first voted in Dutch general elections in 2012, the special municipalities carry many of the functions normally performed by Dutch municipalities. The executive power rests with the Governing Council headed by a Lieutenant governor, the main democratic body is the island council. Dutch citizens of three islands are entitled to vote in Dutch national and in European elections. Officially the islands are classed in Dutch law as being openbare lichamen, for this reason, they are called special municipalities. For many Dutch laws there is a special BES version, for example, social security is not on the same level as it is in the European Netherlands. This agency was established as the Regional Service Center in 2008, the current director is Jan Helmond. The Representative for the bodies of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba represents the Government of the Netherlands on the islands. The current representative is Gilbert Isabella, the islands do not form part of the European Union and instead constitute overseas countries and territories of the Union, to which special provisions apply. In June 2008, the Dutch government published a survey of the legal, the position of the islands will be reviewed after a five-year transitional period, which began with the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles in October 2010. The Caribbean Netherlands form part of the Lesser Antilles, within this island group, Bonaire is part of the ABC islands within the Leeward Antilles island chain off the Venezuelan coast. The Leeward Antilles have a volcanic and coral origin
Caribbean Netherlands
–
Logo of the National Office for the Caribbean Netherlands.
34.
Surinamese guilder
–
The guilder was the currency of Suriname until 2004, when it was replaced by the Surinamese dollar. It was divided into 100 cents, until the 1940s, the plural in Dutch was cents, with centen appearing on some early paper money, but after the 1940s the Dutch plural became cent. The Surinamese guilder was initially at par with the Dutch guilder, in 1940, following the occupation of the Netherlands, the currency was tied to the U. S. dollar at a rate of 1.88585 guilders =1 dollar. The Surinamese guilder suffered from inflation in the beginning of the 1990s. It was replaced by the Surinamese dollar on 1 January 2004 at a rate of 1 dollar =1000 guilders, to save cost of manufacturing, coins of less than 5 guilders were made legal for their face value in the new currency. Thus, these coins increased their power by 1000 fold overnight. Until 1942, Dutch coins circulated in Suriname, starting that year, coins were minted in the United States for use in Netherlands Guiana, some of which also circulated in the Netherlands Antilles. These coins were in denominations of 1,5,10 and 25 cents, in 1962, coins were introduced bearing the name Suriname for the first time. These were in denominations of 1,5,10 and 25 cents and 1 guilder, the 1 cent was bronze, the 5 cent nickel-brass, the 10 and 25 cents were cupro-nickel and the 1 guilder was silver. Aluminium 1 and 5 cent coins were introduced in 1974 and 1976, in 1987, copper-plated steel replaced aluminium in the 1 and 5 cent coins and cupro-nickel 100 and 250 cent coins were introduced. In 1826, the Algemene Nederlandsche Maatschappij issued ½ and 3 guilder notes and these were followed in 1829 by notes of the West Indies Bank in denominations of 1⁄2,1,2,3,5,10 and 50 guilders. The Bank introduced 10,15 and 25 centen and 25 guilder notes in 1837, the government issued silver certificates between 1918 and 1920 for 1⁄2,1 and 2 1⁄2 guilders. Further issues for 50 cent and 1 guilder were introduced in 1940, the 50 cent coin was issued until 1942, with 2 1⁄2 guilders introduced in 1950. The silver certificates were superseded in 1960 by muntbiljet for 1 and 2 1⁄2 guilders, in 1957, the Central Bank of Suriname took over paper money production, issuing notes for 5,10,25,100 and 1000 guilders. 500 guilder notes were introduced in 1982, followed by 250 guilders in 1988,2000 guilder notes were introduced in 1995, followed by 5000 and 10,000 guilders in 1997 and 25,000 guilders in 2000. The last series of banknotes was introduced in 2000 in denominations of 5,10,25,100,500,1000,5000,10,000 and 25,000 guilders and this colorful issue has native birds on the fronts and native flowers on the backs. Economy of Suriname Media related to Surinamese guilder at Wikimedia Commons
Surinamese guilder
–
100 guilder of 1985
Surinamese guilder
Surinamese guilder
–
Banknote of 25,000 guilder
35.
Hungarian forint
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The forint is the currency of Hungary. It is divided into 100 fillér, although fillér coins are no longer in circulation, the introduction of the forint on 1 August 1946 was a crucial step of the post-World War II stabilization of the Hungarian economy, and the currency remained relatively stable until the 1980s. Transition to market economy in the early 1990s deteriorated the value of the forint, since 2001, inflation is single digit and the forint was declared fully convertible. As a member of the European Union, the long term aim of the Hungarian government may be to replace the forint with the euro, the forints name comes from the city of Florence, where golden coins were minted from 1252 called fiorino doro. In Hungary, florentinus, also a currency, was used from 1325 under Charles Robert. Between 1868 and 1892 the forint was the used in Hungarian for the currency of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was subdivided into 100 krajczár, the forint was reintroduced on 1 August 1946, after the pengő was rendered almost worthless by massive hyperinflation in 1945–46—the highest ever recorded. The process was managed by the Hungarian Communist Party, which held the relevant cabinet seats, the forints success was exploited for political gains, contributing to the Communists takeover of complete power in 1948–49. The forint replaced the pengő at the rate of 1 forint = 4×1029 pengő—dropping 29 zeroes from the old currency, in fact, this was an imaginary exchange rate. With the highest value note being 100 million B. pengő, of more significance was the exchange rate to the adópengő of 1 forint =200 million adópengő. Historically the forint was subdivided into 100 fillér, although coins have been rendered useless by inflation and have not been in circulation since 1999. The Hungarian abbreviation for forint is Ft, which is written after the number with a space between, the name fillér, the subdivision of all Hungarian currencies since 1925, comes from the German word Heller. The abbreviation for the fillér is f, written also after the number with a space in between, after the democratic change of 1989–90, the forint saw yearly inflation figures of app. 35% for three years, but significant market economy reforms helped stabilize it. Since year 2000 the relatively high value of forint handicaps the strongly export-oriented Hungarian industry against foreign competitors with lower valued currencies, in 1946, coins were introduced in denominations of 2,10,20 fillérs and 1,2,5 forints. The silver 5 forint was reissued only in the next year,5 and 50 fillérs coins were issued in 1948. In 1967, a 5 forint coin was reintroduced, followed by a 10 forint in 1971 and 20 forint in 1982. In 1992, a new series of coins was introduced in denominations of 1,2,5,10,20,50,100 and 200 forint, production of the 2 and 5 fillér coins ceased in 1992, with all fillér coins withdrawn from circulation by 1999. From 1996, a bicolor 100 forint coin was minted to replace the 1992 version, since the latter was considered too big and ugly, silver 200 forint coins were withdrawn in 1998, the 1 and 2 forint coins remained in circulation until 29 February 2008
Hungarian forint
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Coins and banknotes of the Hungarian forint.
Hungarian forint
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Forint from
Louis I of Hungary (1342-1382). Reverse: LODOVICVS DEI GRACIA REX. Obverse: S[anctus] IOHANNES B[aptista].
Hungarian forint
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Forint from
Matthias Corvinus of Hungary (1458-1490). Obverse: S[anctus]
LADISLAVS REX. Reverse: MATHIAS D[ei] G[ratia] R[ex] VNGARIE.
36.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
International Standard Book Number
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A 13-digit ISBN, 978-3-16-148410-0, as represented by an
EAN-13 bar code
37.
Currency
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A currency in the most specific use of the word refers to money in any form when in actual use or circulation as a medium of exchange, especially circulating banknotes and coins. A more general definition is that a currency is a system of money in common use, under this definition, US dollars, British pounds, Australian dollars, and European euros are examples of currency. These various currencies are recognized stores of value and are traded between nations in exchange markets, which determine the relative values of the different currencies. Currencies in this sense are defined by governments, and each type has limited boundaries of acceptance, other definitions of the term currency are discussed in their respective synonymous articles banknote, coin, and money. The latter definition, pertaining to the systems of nations, is the topic of this article. Currencies can be classified into two systems, fiat money and commodity money, depending on what guarantees the value. Some currencies are legal tender in certain jurisdictions, which means they cannot be refused as payment for debt. Others are simply traded for their economic value, digital currency has arisen with the popularity of computers and the Internet. Currency evolved from two basic innovations, both of which had occurred by 2000 BC, originally money was a form of receipt, representing grain stored in temple granaries in Sumer in ancient Mesopotamia, then Ancient Egypt. In this first stage of currency, metals were used as symbols to represent value stored in the form of commodities and this formed the basis of trade in the Fertile Crescent for over 1500 years. Trade could only reach as far as the credibility of that military and it is not known what was used as a currency for these exchanges, but it is thought that ox-hide shaped ingots of copper, produced in Cyprus, may have functioned as a currency. It is thought that the increase in piracy and raiding associated with the Bronze Age collapse, possibly produced by the Peoples of the Sea, brought the trading system of oxhide ingots to an end. In Africa, many forms of value store have been used, including beads, ingots, ivory, various forms of weapons, livestock, the manilla currency, the manilla rings of West Africa were one of the currencies used from the 15th century onwards to sell slaves. African currency is still notable for its variety, and in many various forms of barter still apply. These factors led to the metal itself being the store of value, first silver, now we have copper coins and other non-precious metals as coins. Metals were mined, weighed, and stamped into coins and this was to assure the individual taking the coin that he was getting a certain known weight of precious metal. Coins could be counterfeited, but they created a new unit of account. Most major economies using coinage had several tiers of coins, using a mix of copper, silver, gold coins were used for large purchases, payment of the military and backing of state activities, they were more often used as measures of account than physical coins
Currency
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Cowry shells being used as money by an Arab trader.
Currency
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Song dynasty Jiaozi, the world's earliest paper money.
38.
Aruban florin
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The florin is the currency of Aruba. It is subdivided into 100 cents, the florin was introduced in 1986, replacing the Netherlands Antillean guilder at par. Although the Aruban florin is pegged with 1.79 US$, in 1986, coins were introduced in denominations of 5,10,25 and 50 cents,1 and 2 1⁄2 florin. Later, the 5 florin banknote was replaced by a square coin, the 5 florin was later on in 2005 replaced with a round golden coin, because the old square 5 florin coin was too easy to counterfeit. All coins are struck in nickel-bonded steel with exception of the 5 florin, the 50 cent is the only square-shaped coin remaining, also commonly referred to as a yotin by the locals. On the back of each 1, 2 1⁄2 and 5 florin coins is the view of the current head of state of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. From 1986 till 2013 it was queen Beatrix and from 2014 onwards it is king Willem-Alexander, moreover, only these coins have a writing on their edge, God Zij Met Ons meaning God Be With Us. The Central Bank of Aruba introduced banknotes in denominations of 5,10,25,50 and 100 florin, in 1990, the bank issued the same denominations in a colorful new family of notes designed by Aruban artist Evelino Fingal. As director of the Archaeological Museum, Fingal found inspiration in old Indian paintings, Fingal combined decorative motives found on pre-Columbian pottery with pictures of animals unique to the island. The 500-florin notes were introduced in 1993, with the 5-florin note replaced by a coin in 1995. As of 2003 a new print was started of the already existing banknotes of 10,25,50,100 and 500 florin. These new banknotes were made with new safety features to counteract counterfeiting, economy of Aruba Central banks and currencies of the Caribbean Banknotes of Aruba Nos Florin
Aruban florin
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The Aruban florin coins, from left to right: 5, 10, 25, 50 cents and 1, 2½ and 5 florin, before 2005.
Aruban florin
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Current 5 florin coin, its size is slightly smaller that of the 1 florin coin.
Aruban florin
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10 AWG
Aruban florin
39.
Tuscan florin
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The Tuscan florin was the currency of Tuscany between 1826 and 1859. It was subdivided into 100 quattrini, a currency made by four pennies. There was an additional denomination called the paolo, worth 40 quattrini, during the Napoleonic Wars, Tuscany was annexed by France and the French franc was introduced, together with its satellite Italian lira. Previous Tuscan pound did not disappear, but a big confusion was created between the old pound and the new lira, so, when Duke Leopold II rose to power in 1824, he decided to introduce a new basic currency. The florin replaced the Tuscan pound at a rate of 1 2⁄3 pounds =1 florin, in 1847, Tuscany absorbed Lucca and the florin replaced the Luccan pound at a rate of 1 florin =2 pounds. After a brief revolutionary coinage, the florin was replaced in 1859 by a currency denominated in Italian lira, equal to the Sardinian lira. Copper coins were struck in denominations of 1 and 3 quattrini, together with billon 5 and 10 quattrini, silver 1⁄2,1 and 5 paolo, 1⁄4, gold coins included the sequin, ruspone and 80 florins, the latter two equalled 3 and 10 sequins respectively
Tuscan florin
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One florin by
Leopold II
40.
Florin (British coin)
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The British two shilling coin, also known as the florin or two bob bit, was issued from 1849 until 1967. It was worth one tenth of a pound, or twenty-four old pence and it should not be confused with the medieval gold florin, which was nominally worth six shillings. In 1968, in the run-up to decimalisation, the two shilling coin was superseded by the ten pence coin, which had the same value and initially the same size. It continued in circulation, alongside the ten pence coin, until 1992, in 1847 a motion was introduced in Parliament calling for the introduction of a decimal currency and the striking of coins of one-tenth and one-hundredth of a pound. The motion was withdrawn on the understanding that a one-tenth pound coin would be produced to test public opinion. The first florins were struck in 1849 as silver coins weighing 11.3 grams and these first coins would have come as rather a shock to the public, as for the first time in nearly 200 years a British coin featured a portrait of the monarch wearing a crown. Even more of a shock, including to Queen Victoria herself, was the omission of D G – Dei Gratia – from the coins inscription, the inscription around the obverse read VICTORIA REGINA1849. The godless florin may have also been minted in 1850 and 1851 with the date 1849, in 1851, the florin was redesigned in a most unusual way. The diameter was increased to 30 millimetres, and all the lettering on the coin was in Gothic script, the date was rendered in Roman numerals. The inscription on the obverse read victoria d g britt reg f d mdcccli, the Gothic Florin was produced each year until 1887. The diameter was reduced to 29.5 millimetres, all the inscriptions were in Latin letters and Arabic numerals. The inscription on the obverse read VICTORIA DEI GRATIA, while the reverse read FID DEF BRITT REG date, the Jubilee Head issue was released each year between 1887 and 1892. The diameter was reduced again, to 28.5 millimetres and this issue was released each year between 1893 and 1901. Following British custom, when Queen Victoria died and her son ascended to the throne, the florin of King Edward VII was minted each year from 1902 to 1910. It remained at 11.3 grams weight and 28.5 millimetres diameter, Florins bearing his left-facing effigy were minted in each year of the reign of King George V except 1910 and 1934. The design of the reverse was similar to Queen Victorias Jubilee florin, after the end of George Vs reign, the word florin no longer appears on British coins. Throughout 1936, coins of all denominations continued to be using the designs of George V. King George VIs florins, produced each year between 1937 and 1951, look much like the one planned for his brother Edward VIII
Florin (British coin)
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The 1849 "godless florin"
Florin (British coin)
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Two
shillings
Florin (British coin)
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The 1932 florin
41.
Florin (English coin)
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The florin or double leopard was an attempt in 1344 by English king Edward III to produce a gold coinage suitable for use in Europe as well as in England. It was 108 grains of pure gold and had a value of six shillings. The continental florin, based on a French coin and ultimately on coins issued in Florence, Italy, in 1252, was a standard coin widely used internationally. The obverse of the shows the King enthroned beneath a canopy. The reverse of the shows the Royal cross within a quatrefoil, a leopard in each spandrel. Only three examples of this coin are known to exist, two discovered on the River Tyne in 1857, and one discovered in January 2006, the latter coin was sold at auction in July 2006 for a record price for a British coin, of £460,000. The first two discovered are displayed in the British Museum, picture of double leopard and noble on www. ukcoinpics. co. uk
Florin (English coin)
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Silver
42.
Florin (Irish coin)
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The florin coin was a subdivision of the pre-decimal Irish pound, worth 1⁄10 of a pound. It was more known as the two-shilling coin. The original minting of the coin from 1928 until 1943 contained 75% silver and it is believed that this was done so that the new currency would not be seen as a poor substitute to the British currency which circulated alongside. The silver coins are quite noticeable as they have a whitish look than the later cupronickel variety that were minted from 1951. The cupronickel variety of coin consisted of 75% copper and 25% nickel, the coin measured 1 1⁄8 inches in diameter and weighed 11.3 grams. The last florins were produced in 1968, the reverse design featuring a salmon was by English artist Percy Metcalfe. The obverse featured the Irish harp, from 1928 to 1937 the date was split either side of the harp with the name Saorstát Éireann circling around. From 1938 to 1968 the inscription changed to Éire on the left of the harp, like all Irish coins, the florin may be redeemed for euro at the Central Bank of Ireland. £sd Coinage Act,1926 Coinage Order,1928 Coinage Order,1993 Irish Coinage website - catalogue - florin
Florin (Irish coin)
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Florin / Flóirín
