Nederlandse Antillen 1967 1 Cent Coin ?

Some background trivia: The Netherlands Antilles are all that remains of the once-vast Dutch colonial empire. At the time your coin was made, it comprised of two groups of three small islands in the Caribbean: St Eustatius, Saba and the southern half of St Martin in the Windward Islands, to the east of the US Virgin Islands, and Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao in the south, just off the coast of Venezuela.

The six islands were administered as a single federal nation, but in 1986, Aruba seceded and became a separate Dutch territory. The five remaining islands are symbolized by the five stars on the country's current flag and coat of arms. Though they all wish to remain tied to the Netherlands, none of the islands really get along with each other, and the Dutch government is trying to dissolve the federation as peacefully as possible.

As for the specifics of your coin: the monetary system of the Netherlands Antilles is 100 cents to the guilder. At current exchange rates, it's worth about half a US cent face value; it's obviously worth more than that to a collector. This particular design was issued from 1952 to 1970. My world coin catalogue says the 1967 1¢ has a mintage of 850,000 and is worth from 50¢ to $2 in typical circulated condition.

The lion-with-sword-and-"dominoes" on the obverse is the coat of arms of the Netherlands. If you look at the lion's other paw, it's holding seven arrows, which stand for the seven provinces of the Netherlands.

That Neth. Antilles 1 cent coin, made in that style until 1970, has the same design, by the way, as the original Dutch piece made until 1941 (or 1943 if you include the US pieces): http://(131231) Not Allowed - Auto-Removed /countries/img5/130-152.jpg
The "seven provinces" refer to the historic Dutch provinces that founded the Utrecht Union; the Netherlands today have twelve provinces. Note that the Neth. Antilles guilder is pegged to the US dollar at a fixed exchange rate. Today's coins from the area do not have the Dutch CoA any more, but the one of the Netherlands Antilles ...

Christian

Right, as Sap pointed out, there are plans to change the current status. According to the plans, Curaçao und Sint Maarten will become autonomous (similar to what Aruba has) while Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius will become more or less regular Dutch cities. Especially in Curaçao the negotiations have been difficult though; the results of the Round Table Conference will now be decided upon in a referendum on 15 May there. Currently the Netherlands Antilles have a currency called gulden (same name as the former Dutch currency) while Aruba uses the florin - and it seems that this is not going to change terribly soon ...

Christian

I luv ya guys! Excellent schooling always
Peace
ST~

During the colonial years the area (basically what currently is the Neth. Antilles and Aruba) was called "Gebiedsdeel Curaçao", something like Territory of Curaçao. As far as I know, that gebiedsdeel was renamed Nederlandse Antillen in 1948. Some Curaçao coins are actually pretty old, say early 19c, and many of those were made in the US. (Here for example http://www.muenzauktion.com/hardelt...-14g44ss.jpg you can even see the Denver mintmark.)

Until WW2 those areas were basically colonies. During that war, by the way, Curaçao was one of the few parts of the Netherlands that were not occupied. The last "Curaçao" coins were minted in 1948, and the first "Nederlandse Antillen" coins came out in 1952.

In 1954 the Koninkrijkstatuut officially ended the times of the colonies. The European Netherlands, so to say, and the overseas territories became separate "countries" within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charte..._Netherlands The question, for the future of the islands, is whether each of them wants to be
- part of the Netherlands Antilles,
- a separate country within the Kingdom, pretty much like Aruba,
- a gemeente (city or municipality) of the Netherlands,
- or an independent country.

And in two weeks the people of Curaçao will decide whether they OK the results of the negotiations or not. Let's see what happens. Hope we are not digressing too much here.

Christian