The Netherlands and the Golden Rider

The Netherlands – Republic of the United Provinces
Gold-Set of the only two gold Gulden depicting „The Golden Rider“ of the 18th century

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, consisting of twelve provinces in Northwestern Europe and three islands in the Caribbean. Concerning geographical terms, the Netherlands is a geographically low-lying country, with about 20% of its area and 21% of its population located below sea level, and 50% of its land lying less than one meter above sea level. This distinct feature contributes to the country‘s name: in Dutch (Nederland), English, and in many other European languages, its name literally means „(The) Low Countries“. Most of the areas below sea level are man-made, caused by centuries of extensive and poorly controlled peat extraction, lowering the surface by several meters. Even in flooded areas peat extraction continued through turf dredging.

The Netherlands was one of the first countries to have an elected parliament, and the country is a founding member of the EU. Consequently, its currency today is the Euro since its introduction. However, the Netherlands saw other currencies in earlier times.

One of them was the so called “Golden Rider”. This particular coin is a high quality standard gold coin from the Burgundian Netherlands of the 15th century. The face design features “the mounted duke”. It was minted between 1435 and 1447 during the regency of Duke Philipp the Good of Burgundy (1419-1467). For the first time the “Rijder“ got a mention in 1433 in connection with the Shire of Flanders and the Mechelen regency. One year later it was officially introduced in the Netherlands.

This set unifies these only two gold gulden from the Netherlands of the 18th century. Their motif reminds of the first „Golden Rider“ which were issued in 1852 after the founding of the Republic of the United Netherlands. The coins‘ issuance was accompanied by economic heydays which made the state arise to Europe’s major commercial and naval power until the middle of the 17th century.