The rijksdaalder (Dutch, "imperial dollar") was a Dutch coin first issued by the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands in the late 16th century during the Dutch Revolt. Featuring an armored half bust of the William the Silent, rijksdaalder was minted to the Saxon reichsthaler weight standard - 448 grains of .885 fine silver.[1] Friesland, Gelderland, Kampen, Overijssel, Utrecht, West Friesland, Zeeland, and Zwolle minted armored half bust rijksdaalders until the end of the 17th century.
17th century rijksdaalder was set to be equal to from 48 to 50 stuivers (the Dutch equivalent of shillings) and circulated along with silver florins (28 stuivers), daalders (30 stuivers), liondaalders (36 to 42 stuivers), silver ducats (48 stuivers), and ducatones (60 stuivers). While liondaalders were made of less pure silver at 427.16 grain of .750 fineness,[2] silver ducats and rijksdaalders were almost of the same size and quality. With the disappearance of the original armored half bust rijksdaalder design, silver ducats and later 2½ guilders were started to be called rijksdaalders.
Unification of the Dutch monetary system in the beginning 18th century introduced guilder and set rijksdaalders and silver ducats to be worth 2½ guilders. Following decimalization (in 1816), 2½ guilder coins were no longer produced because a 3 guilder coin was thought to better fit in the series of denominations. This turned out to be a mistake (due to the high silver price) and from 1840 onward 2½ guilder coins were produced again. Production stopped in 2002 due to the introduction of the euro. 2½ guilder coins continued to be called by their nickname rijksdaalder or knaak until the introduction of euro.
The Royal Dutch Mint still mints a silver ducat today.[3]
The similarly named Reichsthaler, rixdollar, riksdaler and rigsdaler were used in Germany and Austria-Hungary, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, respectively.
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