The Netherlands 2013: Willem-Alexander, the new King.

[translateltd]

All I can say right now is that the new portrait on Dutch coins will be facing right.

I hadn't noticed that pattern before either, but Wilhelmina was known to break it:

http://www.usagold.com/gold/coins/nethqueens.html

[Figleaf]

Well ... uhhh ... no. The portraits are alternatively facing left and right on silver and on gold, but when the sovereign (excuse pun) looks left on the silver, he/she looks right on the gold and vice versa. Commemoratives need not adhere to the pattern.

Peter

[chrisild]

The Royal Dutch Mint is acting fast

Some have assumed that the KNM had been informed about the change in advance - don't think so. I suppose they were fast because they were well-prepared. After all, this is a change that does not come as a surprise.   If you look at the photos of the "Abdicatieset" design, you can even see more or less subtle differences: The one that was presented first had the year "2012" and said "Leve Koning Willem IV" - now the images show 2013 and "Leve Koning Willem Alexander".

Christian

[translateltd]

Well ... uhhh ... no. The portraits are alternatively facing left and right on silver and on gold, but when the sovereign (excuse pun) looks left on the silver, he/she looks right on the gold and vice versa.

How very awkward of them to do so!

[Bimat]

Well ... uhhh ... no. The portraits are alternatively facing left and right on silver and on gold, but when the sovereign (excuse pun) looks left on the silver, he/she looks right on the gold and vice versa. Commemoratives need not adhere to the pattern.

So if I understand you correctly, it's really not necessary to have the new portrait facing right, right?

Aditya

[chrisild]

For circulation coins, Willem Alexander is very likely to look in the "opposite" direction. As for others, well, there is no such thing as a gold or silver circulation coin. On collector coins, the last time that was done was in 2002, for the wedding coin: Silver - Beatrix looks to the left, Gold - Beatrix looks to the right (both from the viewer's perspective). Later issues don't have this difference any more as far as I can tell.

Christian

[Prosit]

Speculation about the new King is interesting but what about Maxima? Possibility of maybe a dual portrait?

Dale

[Figleaf]

Another bit of news: after speculation that there would not be WA coins in 2013, the Ministry of inance has now confirmed that there wil be new coins before the end of the year.

Peter

[Bimat]

The Dutch Mint has just announced an important (!) news on its FB page.

Probably they are ready with new designs...

Aditya

[Bimat]

Now we have the confirmed news from Dutch Mint: Dutch Mint will issue 2 BU sets this year, one set will have standard Dutch coins with Queen's portrait, the other set will have standard Dutch coins with King's portrait. The two sets will be joined together (!) by a hexagonal token. See pictures to get an idea. Images from Dutch Mint's FB page.

Aditya

[chrisild]

Tsk, tsk.   Do they still show the old/wrong image of the set? See here ... But that token is neat.

Christian

[mrbrklyn]

Shall we move that part to the UK forums?

The Dutch Mint now offers a "Quadruple Willem" medal by the way, with the future king on one side (design: Michael Guilfoyle) and the three others on the reverse. http://www.knm.nl/De-officile-Willemspenning-Zilver-Proof/nl/product/1446/ Well, I hope that for the circulation coins a slightly different portrait will be used ...

Christian

the only thing more boring that Presidents on coins is Kings.  Really, do you honestly care who has the British or Dutch Crowns.  Now if they seize power or start a holy war!!!  That would be exciting....land worth a coin.

[chrisild]

In some monarchies, various designs are used on coins - such as a portrait on some denominations and a monogram on others. Or the king, queen, etc. is depicted on high value pieces only while the others have "regular" designs; see Spain. But the three Benelux countries have their heads of state on each and every euro circulation coin (BE and NL make exceptions for commemorative coins.) Well, their decision - I would find three mandatory mottos, like on the US coins, somewhat odd too.

Also, if you look at Estonian or Irish euro circulation coins ... these two are republics, but their pieces are quite monotonous. Fortunately in the euro area all these pieces get mixed, so I have Albert (BE) and Beatrix (NL) in my wallet along with Mozart (AT) and Dante (IT) ...

Will be interesting to see what design/s the Dutch Mint will use for standard circulation coins featuring Willem Alexander. But he will be just as welcome in my pocket as the others.

Christian

[mrbrklyn]

Another thing that would be exciting if they started to flood the economy with "their" coins.

[<k>]

the only thing more boring that Presidents on coins is Kings.

Having a ginger-haired king is bound to destabilise the monarchy. The CIA-Republican-Extraterrestrial conspiracy has made the perfect choice.