Real coins·1 April 2026·4 min read
The guilder — money of the Dutch Golden Age
With the guilder in their pocket, Dutch merchants built the first global trading empire.
The guilder (Dutch florin) was the currency of the Netherlands for centuries, when Amsterdam was the world's financial center and home of the first stock exchange.
The currency of world trade
The guilder's stability and Dutch financial innovations (shares, stock exchange, an early central bank) made it an ancestor of modern trade currencies. It was replaced by the euro in 2002.
