Coin Pièce Netherlands 1 gulden Silver Juliana 1958 Utrecht

The 1 Gulden Juliana is a coin issued in 1958 by the monetary institute of Utrecht, in the Netherlands. This coin, with a face value of one gulden, was struck to the amount of 30,000,000 pieces, making it a characteristic coin of Dutch circulation at the time.

The coin is composed of silver with a fineness of 720 thousandths, meaning an alloy containing 72% silver. It has a weight of 6.5 grams and a diameter of 25 millimetres, standardised dimensions for this type of circulating currency.

The obverse of the coin features the portrait of Queen Juliana, sovereign of the Netherlands from 1948 to 1980. Juliana Helena Emma Marie Wilhelmina, born in 1909 and died in 2004, was the daughter of Queen Wilhelmina and Prince Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Her reign, marked by a period of reconstruction and economic prosperity for the Netherlands, is well represented in the national numismatic production of the time. Her effigy appears on many Dutch monetary issues of this period.

The reverse of the coin displays the face value as well as the name of the country, following the classic graphic codes of Dutch coinage from the mid-20th century. The Utrecht mint, historically one of the main minting centres in the Netherlands, is responsible for the production of this piece. This mint, whose origins date back to the Middle Ages, long played a central role in the monetary production of the Dutch kingdom before its activities were progressively consolidated.

This coin illustrates the production of silver circulating currency in the Netherlands during the 1950s, before less precious metal alloys gradually replaced silver in the manufacture of circulation coins.