Queen Beatrix is featured on a coin together with Crown Prince Willem-Alexander. The front side shows both profiles: that of Beatrix, who is Queen of the Netherlands until April 30, 2013, and that of Willem-Alexander, who is King of the Netherlands from that date. Another coin will be released in May 2014. This time it is King Willem-Alexander who appears on the coin together with his mother, now Princess Beatrix.
Change of throne
The coin was minted in honor of the change of throne on April 30, 2013 by the Royal Dutch Mint (KNM). It is a special two-euro coin, depicting both the face of Queen Beatrix and the profile of the new King Willem-Alexander. It is a so-called double head. On February 6, 2013, State Secretary Frans Weekers of Finance struck the first copies in the historic Muntgebouw in Utrecht.
Payment method
Beatrix’s portrait is in the foreground because she is queen at the time the coin was minted. Below the portraits is the date January 28, 2013. That is the day on which Queen Beatrix announced that she was abdicating the throne. The coin is legal tender and was minted in a mintage of twenty million.
Juliana
The Royal Dutch Mint also issued a double-headed coin upon the enthronement of Queen Juliana and Beatrix in 1980. The double heads appear as a collector’s item and as a bridge to the coin with the head of the new monarch. The new coin with Willem-Alexander will be released in early 2014. The Dutch mint has had a portrait of the reigning monarch on almost all coins since the beginning of the Kingdom.
Right
According to tradition, Willem-Alexander looks to the right. Beatrix looks to the left at the coins. That was the case with the guilder and it is the same with the euro. The coin was specially designed in honor of the change of throne in 2013.
BU
The coin is worth two euros and can also be purchased in BU quality, Brilliant Uncirculated, from the KNM. Then the two-euro coin costs ten euros. 25,000 of the BU quality coin were minted. The coin in a folder together with a mini magazine can be purchased at the KNM for 9.95.
Specifications:
- Metal: Bi-Colour
- Weight: 8.50g
- Diameter: 25.75mm
- Edge: Cartel
- Edge writing: * GOD * BE * WITH * US
- Quality: Brilliant Uncirculated
- Nominal value: 2 euros
- Designer: P. Goutzemisis, modeler KNM
Royal Dutch Mint
The Royal Dutch Mint (KNM) is the official producer of Dutch coinage. Dutch coinage has been minted at the Mint in Utrecht since 1567. The KNM is therefore one of the oldest companies in the Netherlands. We still pay with coins in our daily payment transactions. The KNM mints the coins on behalf of the Dutch State. The KNM makes circulation money, but also focuses on the collectors market with coins, tokens and coin-related products. The double head has been produced in an edition of exceptional quality for collectors.
Coin expert
The KNM is a coin expert. The company has centuries of experience in designing and producing coins and tokens and employs top designers. The Mint produced the Dutch guilders and switched to the production of euro coins with the switch to the euro. From 1999 to 2002, the Mint minted 2.8 billion euro coins. Euro production is much larger than guilder production ever was, about six times as large.
Five Certainties
The KNM has a standard to uphold and expresses this in publishing the Five Certainties:
- Authority;
- quality;
- authenticity;
- Guarantee;
- service.
- Authority: only the KNM is allowed to mint Dutch coins. This used to apply to the ducats and florins, it was the case in the time of the guilder, and it applies to the current euros;
- Quality: the KNM has a tradition of craftsmanship;
- Authenticity: at the KNM, a Certificate of Authenticity is provided with the coins as proof;
- Guarantee: with the KNM, collectors are assured of follow-up issues;
- Service: KNM attaches great importance to service.
The Customer Service department can be reached by telephone on working days from 9:00 am to 5:30 pm via 0900 – 566 30 30 (local rate). Questions can be asked by e-mail to [email protected]. KNM promises a quick answer.
King and Princess
In May 2014, another two-euro coin will be minted, one depicting King Willem-Alexander together with his mother and predecessor Beatrix. The coin resembles the two euro coin that was issued in 2013, but is slightly different. Now it is Willem-Alexander who is in the foreground as King and Beatrix can be seen in the background.
read more
- ‘Queen of all people’ – thank you song for Beatrix
- Queen Beatrix and a Royal plate at her abdication
- Beatrix – Freewoman of Ameland with Frisian blood
- Beatrix, Queen of the Netherlands – an institution
- Queen Beatrix – the enthronement