Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
2 1/2 Gulden Silver Voucher
| Issuer | Netherlands Ministry of Finance |
|---|---|
| Year | 1915-1917 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Gulden (decimalized, 1817-2001) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Printed in blue on cream paper, the note is framed by an ornate guilloche border with foliate corner vignettes, each enclosing the numeral value 2.50 in a lozenge cartouche. The title KONINKRIJK DER NEDERLANDEN is set in a decorative panel at the top, below which ZILVERBON and the denomination GROOT TWEE EN EEN HALVE GULDEN appear in bold letterpress. A large underprint numeral 2.50 occupies the center field, overlaid by the registration date, two manuscript facsimile signatures, and the legal tender declaration WETTIG BETAALMIDDEL; a counterfeit warning text is contained in a rectangular panel at the foot of the note. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is unprinted, showing plain cream paper on which the obverse impression is faintly visible in show-through, with no applied design, lettering, or ornamental elements. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The Zilverbons — silver vouchers — were introduced in 1914 after the outbreak of war caused Dutch silver coinage to disappear from circulation almost overnight. Hoarding was immediate and severe; the public simply refused to let silver move. The Ministry of Finance issued these notes as a direct substitute, legally redeemable for silver coin, though in practice that redemption rarely happened while the war continued.
Printed in substantial quantities across the 1915–1917 run, the series nonetheless wore out quickly in daily use — the small format took hard handling at market and counter level. Surviving examples in sound condition are less common than the print figures suggest.