The Royal Dutch Coin has designed a special commemoration coin for King Willem-Alexander’s 50th birthday. The design was done by Persijn Broersen en Margit Lukács. The 10-euro coin is the first commemoration coin made since 2013 when one was made for the King Willem-Alexander inauguration.
On one side of the coin is the King’s motto summarised in three words; represent, connect and encourage, and a sailor’s knot symbolises the King’s interest in water and his “will to connect.” It also features some ribbons, inspired by the reliefs in the Royal Palace in Amsterdam. On the other side is the usual portrait of King Willem-Alexander.
The mayor of Utrecht, Jan van Zanen, will ceremoniously strike to the first coin on 24 April, three days before King’s Day. Avid collectors can pre-order the coin on the website of the Royal Dutch Coin.
The King and Queen are set to spend King’s Day in Tilburg, in the south of the Netherlands, this year. Although the holiday is celebrated nationwide, the royal couple visit one or more cities each year. King’s Day is a bank holiday in the Netherlands. It used to fall on 30 April to coincide with Queen Juliana’s birthday, even after she had been succeeded by her daughter, Queen (now Princess) Beatrix because her birthday was in January, where it would be too cold to celebrate.
The Dutch Constitution states that if King’s Day falls on a Sunday, it should be observed the day before. This was the case in 2014, for King Willem-Alexander’s first celebration as King. In 2009, when it was still Queen’s Day, the Royal Family’s parade was attacked by a man who ploughed his car through the crowds, killing eight people and injuring ten. The car eventually crashed into a monument, and the driver later died in hospital. The Royal Family remained unharmed.
