60 Gulden Stadtholder Frederik Hendrik of Orange

Pick 38 belongs to the "Stadhouder" series, a long-running De Nederlandsche Bank issue whose 60-gulden denomination occupied an awkward middle position that saw limited demand in everyday commerce — too large for routine transactions, too small for serious interbank business. The series was printed over an extended period, and the 1945 printing date here places this specific impression in a remarkable circumstance: 30 April 1945 was the day Hitler died, and the Netherlands was still partially under German occupation, with liberation of the north only days away.

Whether notes printed on that date ever reached circulation in any meaningful volume is doubtful. The post-liberation currency reform of September 1945 — which froze all banknotes and required registration before exchange — effectively neutralized large holdings overnight, and many unissued stocks were simply withdrawn.