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25 ECU - Beatrix Netherlands-Russia
| Issuer | Netherlands |
|---|---|
| Year | 1997 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 25 ECU (25 XEU) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | The obverse features the Dutch rampant lion rendered in a bold, stylized relief at centre, depicted holding a sword and a sheaf of arrows — the traditional attributes of the Netherlands coat of arms. A ring of twelve five-pointed stars surrounds the design along the inner border, evoking the European Community motif. The legend KONINKRIJK DER NEDERLANDEN arcs along the upper periphery, with the denomination 25 ECU inscribed at the base and the date 1997 to the lower left of the lion. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
The ECU never became legal tender in the Netherlands or anywhere else — it remained a unit of account until its replacement by the euro in 1999. Dutch commemorative ECU pieces like this one occupied an odd commercial space: struck to legal specifications by the Dutch Mint but sold directly to collectors, never intended for circulation, and technically outside the official currency framework entirely. The Netherlands issued them consistently through the 1990s as bilateral commemoratives pairing Queen Beatrix with foreign heads of state.
The Russia pairing in 1997 likely marks the deepening of Dutch-Russian diplomatic and trade ties following the Soviet collapse, though the Netherlands had maintained unusually active commercial relations with Russia through Shell and other joint ventures well before that.