Netherlands ½ gulden 1863 - William III

The coin's story

This ½ gulden coin in 945 thousandths silver belongs to the series struck from 1850 to 1868 in the name of William III. William III, King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg, reigned from 1849 until his death on 23 November 1890, his daughter Wilhelmina succeeded him in the Netherlands, while Luxembourg, reserved for male heirs, passed to Adolphe of Nassau. It belongs to the silver standard adopted by the Netherlands in 1847, before the move to the gold standard in 1875. The portrait is the work of Johannes Petrus Schouberg, engraver at the Utrecht Mint. The reverse bears the crowned arms and the legend MUNT VAN HET KONINGRYK DER NEDERLANDEN (Coin of the Kingdom of the Netherlands). The 1863 date was struck in 5,152,084 pieces at the Utrecht Mint, under the mintmaster Herman Adriaan van den Wall Bake.