Queen Beatrix Abdication

Anyone see any value in picking up some 2012 Netherlands coinage with Queen Beatrix abdicating? How long does it take for the new sovereign to appear on any new coinage? Does the eurozone complicate any changes?

 

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Up until 2002 it was still possible to find Wilhelmina coins usually 5 and 10 cents in circulation since the composition hadn't changed over the years - she abdicated in 1948 and died in 1980. Beatrix's coinage is going to stay in circulation a long time barring some disaster with the Euro. I always saved the Wilhelmina coins when I got them in circulation - though they really didn't have much value, but conversational because of their age.

 

I didn't know the saucy little minx was abdicating. Thanks for bringing it up.

I would doubt, though, it would have much affect on coin collectibility.

I am waiting to see what will happen in Thailand and their king. He has been on the throne for 67 years now, 99.9% of Thais do not know a different monarch. His son is not a great option, having some "issues". It would probably be best if, and this applies to the UK as well, if they skipped over the current crown prince and went with a grandchild of the current monarch.

 

Medora - you bring up a good point - look at the mess in Cambodia. Norodom Sihanouk literally was a man of all seasons, he could be prince, king, president, communist comrade all in one. The king in Thailand has been on the throne since 1946 and is universally popular in a country that could get fractious really easily with him out of the scene. The governments there have been a big mess.

 

Guess that most 2013 coinage will show Beatrix. After all, she won't step back (something that is common in NL, and in LU too) until 30 April. My assumption is that King Willem Alexander won't feature on circulation coins until next year, but I could be wrong. And this year's Kingdom Bicentennial €2 commem, for example, will have his portrait too. So will the collector coins issued as from April/May 2013 ...

Christian

 

Would be even better in my opinion to do away with kings and princes anyway but I think it would be pretty silly do skip Charles in the UK. Based on what, beauty contests?

Another question is what will happen in Belgium. King Albert will be 80 next year, and while I wish him a long and healthy life, I wonder whether it wouldn't make sense to do what they do in Luxembourg and the Netherlands ...

Christian

 

Beatrix has to be one of the worst names of all time.

 

Umm, you know that there are more ways than a possible "English way" to pronounce the name? Lots of "Beatrix" or "Beate" around here ...

Christian

 

Beauty contests? How about a little IQ test?

 

Pretty sure he would pass. Other kings have done odd things too, see Sweden or Spain. I just don't understand the desire of some people to push an heir to the throne out ... unless you do it shouting Vive la République.

Christian

 

I would say its more to preserve the prestige of the monarchy, (and the tourist dollars that go along with it). I was simply saying Thailand and the UK have crown princes not really "beloved" by the populace, and if they both stepped aside it would help their respective families retain the love and loyalty of their respective countries.

 

:devil::devil:

 

That is the most English person I have ever seen in my life.

For clarity, I am half English, so I did not mean that disparagingly.

 

I wonder if the Royal Family gets involved with any kind of analysis from a consulting firm. Specifically, I wonder how ruthless they'd be in looking at a Charles monarchy vs. William monarchy and generating X amount of dollars for the "firm" or another amount for skipping a generation. I know there are Q scores and such, but I wonder how much this is taken into account.

 

He is? I thought the family was German - ala Saxe Coburg Gotha, I believe Princess Diana was the first English blood to enter the Royal Family in some generations.

 

Does blood actually matter that much, especially after a couple of generations? I know that Americans will sometimes emphasize where their ancestors came from a couple of generations ago, but QEII is certainly "very British" ...

Beatrix sure is different, in terms of attitude, from her predecessor Juliana - a little more sober, maybe reserved, but I think that people got used to it and were OK with her. (No "scandals", wow.) Now the king or queen does not have any actual political power, but I am sure that Willem Alexander's attitude will be quite different from his mother's. And he has that asset called Máxima.

Christian

 

Let us not forget that her husband served in the army of a country next door that invaded the Netherlands and later on was involved in that whole defense scandal back in the 1970s.

 

When I wrote "no scandals", I was not referring to Juliana, whose husband Bernhard you probably had in mind, but to her daughter Beatrix. Sure, initially some in NL opposed her marriage too (she had also married a German), but that certainly changed, and I don't recall anything in her years as a queen that would have caused much criticism. The difference in style that I mentioned, well, Juliana wanted to be as "normal" as possible. She preferred "Mrs" over "Her Majesty" and could be seen riding a bicycle in public. That is something that for Beatrix would be pretty much impossible - and Willem Alexander may be a little different again.

Now all this will not be reflected by the future coin designs. I am fairly sure that his portrait(s) on the coins will be somewhat abstract - like Beatrix's, but different. And contrary to Spanish coins for example, where the king is on the two highest denominations only, the Dutch pieces will all have his effigy. Maybe two different ones, like on the current coins, maybe just one (see Belgium) or maybe more ...

Christian

 

I'd like to see them do away with the ridiculous abstract effigies of their monarch. Even the Luxembourg and Belgium coins with their cartoonish portrayal of their monarchs were better than some of the Dutch ones.

 

At least the abstract designs do not need to be adapted every couple of years (cf. Elizabeth II) - Beatrix has had the very same portrait on circulation coins for 30 years. The only change was that in 1999 a second portrait was added for the "copper" and "brass" pieces of the euro coins. If you take a 1 gulden coin from 1982 and a 1 euro coin from 2012 ... exactly the same look.

Some of her portraits on collector coins are a little odd, yes. But those silver and gold coins do not actually circulate anyway. So why not experiment a little? Don't get me wrong; I do appreciate good ancient, medieval or late 19c/early 20c art, architecture or coin design. A newly designed 2013 coin, however, that looks like one from 50 or 100 years ago, that is something that I would find very strange.

Christian