2 1/2 Gulden - Juliana

The 2½ gulden denomination had been struck in .945 silver through the prewar period, but postwar reconstruction pressures and the rising price of silver forced the Dutch government to reduce fineness to .720 for this series beginning in 1959. The composition change was economically driven, not cosmetic — silver prices in the early 1960s were climbing steadily toward the point where the metal value of older coins would exceed face value, and the Netherlands was not alone in making this calculation.

Hoarding of the purer prewar pieces accelerated through this period, which pushed these .720 issues into heavier circulation than their mintages might suggest.