7th December

The coin behind door seven is the Netherlands Antilles 1 Cent.

The Netherlands Antilles was a constituent country of islands in the Caribbean united under the Dutch crown in 1954. In 2010 the country was dissolved, but three of the islands, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba, became special municipalities within The Netherlands.

The 1 Cent from the Netherlands Antilles features on the reverse the value in the centre of an ornate geometric designed border and the date. The obverse features an orange blossom plant within the name of the country.

Because The Netherlands Antilles only had a population of 200,000, their coinage would have had low mintages compared to The Netherlands, and to the UK, making their coinage very scarce.

Now that the Netherlands Antilles has been dissolved as a country, their currency is even more difficult to get hold of and is a special insight into the country’s history.

The official languages of The Netherlands Antilles were English and Papiamentu.