Netherlands · Change of Throne, Double Portrait No. 1: Beatrix - Willem-Alexander

Issue date7 Feb 2013

Total mintage20,000,000

EU maximum20,000,000

Editions4

Edge letteringGOD ★ ZIJ ★ MET ★ ONS ★

InscriptionWILLEM-ALEXANDER PRINS VAN ORANJE / BEATRIX KONINGIN DER NEDERLANDEN / 28 januari 2013

DesignerPannos Goutzemisis

mintKoninklijke Nederlandse Munt, Utrecht

Issue occasion

The commemorative coin commemorates the announcement of the abdication of Her Majesty Queen Beatrix. The design shows her portrait in the foreground and, behind it, the partially obscured portrait of Prins van Oranje. Both portraits are surrounded by an inscription bearing the names and titles WILLEM-ALEXANDER PRINS VAN ORANJE and BEATRIX KONINGIN DER NEDERLANDEN, as well as the date 28 januari 2013.

The design

The design shows Queen Beatrix’s portrait in the foreground and, in the background, the portrait of the Prince of Orange, partially covered by the Queen’s portrait. The following inscription is applied around the two portraits: WILLEM-ALEXANDER PRINS VAN ORANJE (crown symbol) BEATRIX KONINGIN DER NEDERLANDEN (mintmark) 28 januari 2013 (mint master’s mark).

The twelve stars of the European flag are depicted on the outer coin ring.

Background on the topic

Beatrix belonged to the House of Orange-Nassau and had been Queen of the Netherlands since 1980. She had succeeded her mother Juliana to the throne. In the Dutch monarchy, voluntary abdication is not an exceptional occurrence: Wilhelmina and Juliana had already relinquished the throne in favour of their successors during their lifetimes. Unlike in some other monarchies, the office is therefore not generally held until death.

The Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy. The monarch is the head of state, but political responsibility lies with the ministers. The duties of the head of state primarily include representational and constitutional responsibilities. In her televised address, Beatrix stated that responsibility for the country should now be placed in the hands of a new generation.

The announced change of the throne took place on 30 April 2013. Beatrix signed the instrument of abdication at the Royal Palace in Amsterdam. Her eldest son thereby became King Willem-Alexander. This was followed by his formal inauguration in the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam. It was not a coronation: the Dutch Constitution provides for the new monarch to take an oath and receive the homage of the two chambers of Parliament. Beatrix subsequently bore the title Princess of the Netherlands.

Willem-Alexander was the first male Dutch monarch since the death of King Willem III in 1890. Upon his accession, his eldest daughter Catharina-Amalia became heir to the throne and received the title Princess of Orange.

The coin issue was directly connected with this orderly transition between two heads of state. It was issued shortly after the public announcement and thus documented not the subsequent formal inauguration, but the moment when the change of the throne had officially been announced. The occasion was suitable for a circulating commemorative coin because it made visible both a change at the head of the Dutch state and the continuation of the dynasty.