Your memories of the guilder

The guilder was one of Europe's oldest coins and the first of the 12 eurozone currencies to disappear. You sent us your memories.

Living in a country with bland, monochromatic bills, I was fascinated by the colorful attention to detail of the Dutch guilder. To me, ordinary aspects of Dutch life - sunflowers, lighthouses, birds - became transformed into extraordinary examples of how the Dutch viewed even the smallest detail in an artistic light. The euro may pale compared to the guilder, but let's hope that the next euro series has more of a Dutch touch.
Julian G., USA

I don't think it is entirely true that the Dutch do not regret the demise of the guilder. Throughout its long history it has been a very stable currency and our notes and coins were some of the most visually attractive, so naturally we'll miss it. But being a trading nation, we have little difficulty adjusting to a new currency. And I guess that having our former national bank president as president of the ECB doesn't hurt either. Moreover, I believe the currency is highly overrated as a symbol of national identity. I don't feel a bit less Dutch just because I now pay for my coffee using euros.
Michiel Rodenhuis, Netherlands

I remember being a boy of seven and my father giving me his coin collection. He also gave me a five guilder bill from 1973. It had a picture of Rembrandt, and intricately engraved back was nothing like the American money I was used to. I still collect coins and currency today.
David , USA

Almost all denominations of Dutch coins and banknotes had their own colloquial name - eg: dubbeltje = 10 cent; Knaak = 2,50 guilder, Geeltje = 25 Guilder; Rooie rug = 1000 guilder etc. I don't know another example of a nation that bothered to give nicknames to all its coins and notes. When the Dutch similarly baptise the euro denominations, we'll know that they've really taken to it!
Pascal Geuljans, UK

As a foreigner living in Holland I must admit I grew attached to the colourful guilders used to seem like Monopoly money. Nevertheless the euro is as nice as the guilders and I am sure that a nation so accustomed to trade as the Dutch one won't take long to fall in love with the new money.
Stefano Angelucci, Italian in the Netherlands

Whenever I was bored, in the tram or metro, I could always take a banknote out of my wallet and enjoy the art of the design, with small surprises like the poem on the 10 guilder banknote

Pieter Voogt, Netherlands

I agree that I'll miss the brightly-coloured guilder notes, but I won't miss the frustratingly-small 10 cent piece! I hated trying to pick up these coins which were about 8 or 9 mm across. Of course, we now have to contend with the 1 cent coin.
David Williams, Brit living in Rotterdam

I'm a bit sad to see our colourful money go, but living in Berlin and travelling a lot, it's great to know I can spend the same currency everywhere now. The Dutch banknotes were the only ones in Euroland not to have boring historical figures on them, and I'm glad that at least that is similar now on the euro notes.
Jeroen van Marle, Germany

Whenever I was bored, in the tram or metro, I could always take a banknote out of my wallet and enjoy the art of the design, with small surprises like the poem on the 10 guilder banknote. The euro banknotes are terrible, but at least there is a lot to discover on all the different coins from the euro countries.
Pieter Voogt, Netherlands

The colourful design of the notes will be missed

As a young student from America in 1968 I will never forget kissing my first Dutch girlfriend, drinking my first Dutch beer, and paying with my first Dutch guilder. Try and take that to the bank.
Raiford Rogers, USA

An interesting feature of the guilder system was the division of money into quarters. At first this seemed odd, but you get used to it.
Andy Mutch, Holland

Guilders were normal in Holland but as soon as we went abroad people wanted to see the banknotes, feel them and hold them against the light. Regrettably the euro banknotes tell us nothing. No Rembrandt, no Goethe or Mozart, no Curie or Montesquieu. Time for creative artists to start lobbying for new colourful banknotes representing, for example, two aspects of two EC-members.
Koos Voogd, Netherlands

The Dutch banknotes were very pretty but they were absent of any historical figures and had very little culture on them. I preferred the German or Belgium notes which contained famous people from those countries.
Robert, UK

The dear departed guilder...alas! we lose the most attractively designed paper money of the 20th Century. The guilder was special to those of us who value the aesthetic qualities of the instruments of everyday life.
Chris, USA

We've never been reluctant to have our wallets filled with foreign currency, and today's popularity of the euro amongst the Dutch highlights this

Peter Verbeek

It may not have been a world currency but it was very beautiful and always represented to me a country of tolerance and peace that is so needed in the rest of the world.
Robert Bilbrey, U.S.

Dutch money has, by far, the most beautiful and sophisticated graphic design. It's the one currency I'm sad not to be able to see any more - I wish I'd held on to some, simply to mount in a frame.
Andrew N.

I presume most of us forgot what Dutch coins looked like during part of World War II, when the Germans confiscated our gold and silver coins, so who's complaining today?
Paul Hettinga, Canada

The Dutch, if nothing else, are a people of trade. We've never been able to resist looking over our borders to learn about others and find profitable ways of doing business with them. Hence we've never been reluctant to have our wallets filled with foreign currency, and today's popularity of the euro amongst the Dutch highlights this. So the departure of the guilder is not a bitter one. Instead, let's celebrate new opportunities and embrace this new Europe, in which Holland and its eurozone neighbours alike will thrive.
Peter Verbeek

Today I paid with my first euros. They're ugly in my opinion. The guilder notes were more colourful. The new euro banknotes look like toy banknotes.
Inge Loots

The guilder is almost a memory now, but there's no reason to be too sentimental

Mark Ligtenstein

I have always loved our colourful Dutch money, especially the bright yellow and orange 50-guilder banknote. But the guilder as a national symbol, that's rubbish. We Dutch are a practical, down to earth people. Having the euro is just very practical and the value is more important than the looks. The guilder is almost a memory now, but there's no reason to be too sentimental. In fact the guilder has just been the euro in disguise since 1999. At least we have the real thing now!
Mark Ligtenstein

The best story I have read is about the 250 guilder note. The designer, Oxenaar, is said to have included the names of his three daughters in the lighthouse that dominates the design. The euro notes are boring and reflect the non-existent European identity.
Pieter

Like many people, I will mostly remember the Dutch guilder for the colourful banknotes, making the various notes so easy to distinguish. Fortunately, it seems that the tradition of bright colours and sophisticated design is to some extent continued in the euro notes.
Dirkjan Luykx