100 Gulden 1953, Netherlands
| in Krause book | Number: 88 |
| Years of issue: | 02.02.1953 |
| Edition: | 1AA-6BM + 1BN-5VX |
| Signatures: | President: W.M.Holtrop, Secretaris: A.M. de Jong |
| Serie: | Series 1953 - 1957 |
| Specimen of: | 1953 |
| Material: | Cotton fiber |
| Size (mm): | 169 x 97 |
| Printer: | Joh. Enschede en Zonen, Haarlem |
* All pictures marked 
are increased partially by magnifying glass, the remaining open in full size by clicking on the image.
** The word "Specimen" is present only on some of electronic pictures, in accordance with banknote images publication rules of appropriate banks.
Description
Watermark:
Mercury is a major Roman god, being one of the Dii Consentes within the ancient Roman pantheon. He is the patron god of financial gain, commerce, eloquence (and thus poetry), messages/communication (including divination), travelers, boundaries, luck, trickery and thieves; he is also the guide of souls to the underworld.
He was considered the son of Maia and Jupiter in Roman mythology. His name is possibly related to the Latin word merx ("merchandise"; compare merchant, commerce, etc.), mercari (to trade), and merces (wages); another possible connection is the Proto-Indo-European root merĝ- for "boundary, border" (cf. Old English "mearc", Old Norse "mark" and Latin "margō") and Greek οὖρος (by analogy of Arctūrus/Ἀρκτοῦρος), as the "keeper of boundaries," referring to his role as bridge between the upper and lower worlds.[citation needed] In his earliest forms, he appears to have been related to the Etruscan deity Turms, both of which share characteristics with the Greek god Hermes. In Virgil's Aeneid, Mercury reminds Aeneas of his mission to found the city of Rome. In Ovid's Fasti, Mercury is assigned to escort the nymph Larunda to the underworld. Mercury, however, fell in love with Larunda and made love to her on the way. Larunda thereby became mother to two children, referred to as the Lares, invisible household gods.
Avers:
Erasmus of Rotterdam writes with a pen. On the table - inkstand, flowers, hourglass.
The engraving on the banknote was made after paintings by Hans Holbein Jr. He made these portraits in Basel, Switzerland, in 1523, where Erasmus moved in 1521.
Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (28 October 1466 – 12 July 1536), known as Erasmus or Erasmus of Rotterdam, was a Dutch Christian humanist who was the greatest scholar of the northern Renaissance. Originally trained as a Catholic priest, Erasmus was an important figure in classical scholarship who wrote in a pure Latin style. Among humanists he enjoyed the sobriquet "Prince of the Humanists", and has been called "the crowning glory of the Christian humanists". Using humanist techniques for working on texts, he prepared important new Latin and Greek editions of the New Testament, which raised questions that would be influential in the Protestant Reformation and Catholic Counter-Reformation. He also wrote On Free Will, In Praise of Folly, Handbook of a Christian Knight, On Civility in Children, Copia: Foundations of the Abundant Style, Julius Exclusus, and many other works.
Erasmus lived against the backdrop of the growing European religious Reformation, but while he was critical of the abuses within the Catholic Church and called for reform, he kept his distance from Luther, Henry VIII and John Calvin and continued to recognise the authority of the pope, emphasizing a middle way with a deep respect for traditional faith, piety and grace, rejecting Luther's emphasis on faith alone. Erasmus remained a member of the Roman Catholic Church all his life, remaining committed to reforming the church and its clerics' abuses from within. He also held to the Catholic doctrine of free will, which some Reformers rejected in favor of the doctrine of predestination. His middle road ("via media") approach disappointed, and even angered, scholars in both camps.
Erasmus died suddenly in Basel in 1536 while preparing to return to Brabant, and was buried in Basel Minster, the former cathedral of the city. A bronze statue of Erasmus was erected in 1622 in his city of birth, replacing an earlier work in stone. 
I wrote to the Bank of the Netherlands with a question about the image of the buildings in the background of the banknote, since it is not indicated on any site.
The answer was received from Mr. Erik van der Kam, curator of the national numismatic collection (many thanks to him for that). He wrote that in the background of the banknote is a view of medieval Rotterdam, but did not indicate which image the banknote designer used.
Therefore, I dare to express my assumption.
It seems to me that the St. Lawrence Church (Grote of Sint-Laurenskerk), in Rotterdam, is visible on the banknote (judging by the spire behind it and the fact that it was built in the period of the 1450s ...
Grote of Sint-Laurenskerk (English: Great, or St. Lawrence Church) is a Protestant church in Rotterdam. It is the only remnant of the medieval city of Rotterdam.
The church was built between 1449 and 1525. In 1621 a wooden spire was added to the tower, designed by Hendrick de Keyser. Poor quality of its wood caused the spire to be demolished in 1645. A stone cube was added to the tower, which proved too heavy for the foundation in 1650. New piles were driven under the tower and in 1655 the tower stood straight again.
This basilica was the first all stone building in Rotterdam. Many important events took place here. The last priest of the Laurenskerk was Hubertus Duifhuis. The Reformation took place in 1572 and the Laurenskerk became a Protestant church. Ministers of the church include Laurens Johannes Jacobus van Oosterzee, Abraham Hellenbroek, Jan Scharp and J.R. Callenbach, who wrote a book about the history of the church a few years before the Rotterdam Blitz. The church is still used for worship of the Protestant Church.
In the Rotterdam Blitz on May 14, 1940 the Laurenskerk was heavily damaged. At first there were calls to demolish the church, but that was stopped by Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands. The provisional National Monuments Commission had both supporters and opponents of restoration. In particular, committee member and architect J.J.P. Oud opposed rebuilding in 1950 and presented an alternative plan which would preserve only the tower. Next to the memorial a new, smaller church would be built. This alternative plan was rejected, particularly because restoration of the Laurenskerk was viewed as a symbol of the resilience of Rotterdam's community. In 1952, Queen Juliana of the Netherlands laid the foundation stone for the restoration, which was completed in 1968.
In 1971 the Laurenspastoraat community was established (as part of the Reformed Church of Rotterdam) in order to resume church services. The community received a Cross of Nails replica from Coventry Cathedral in order to become a local center for peace and reconciliation. In 1981 the liberal Maaskant/Open Grenzen community joined the church and since then the two communities alternate their services.
Denomination in numeral is on right side. In words - at the bottom.
Revers:
The bird on the reverse is the Phoenix, rising from flames as a symbol of purification.
In Greek mythology, a phoenix; Ancient Greek: φοῖνιξ, phoînix) is a long-lived bird that cyclically regenerates or is otherwise born again.
Associated with the Sun, a phoenix obtains new life by arising from the ashes of its predecessor. According to some sources, the phoenix dies in a show of flames and combustion, although there are other sources that claim that the legendary bird dies and simply decomposes before being born again. There are different traditions concerning the lifespan of the phoenix, but by most accounts the phoenix lived for 500 years before rebirth. Herodotus, Lucan, Pliny the Elder, Pope Clement I, Lactantius, Ovid, and Isidore of Seville are among those who have contributed to the retelling and transmission of the phoenix motif.
In ancient Greece and Rome, the phoenix was associated with Phoenicia, (modern Lebanon), a civilization famous for its production of purple dye from conch shells.
In the historical record, the phoenix "could symbolize renewal in general as well as the sun, time, the Empire, metempsychosis, consecration, resurrection, life in the heavenly Paradise, Christ, Mary, virginity, the exceptional man, and certain aspects of Christian life".
Micro text, in lower right corner, in Dutch:
"Wetboek van Strafrecht Artikel 208. Hij die muntspeciën of munt- of bankbiljetten namaakt of vervalst, met het oogmerk om die muntspeciën of munt- of bankbiljetten als echt en onvervalst uit te geven of te doen uitgeven, wordt gestraft met gevangenisstraf van ten hoogste negen jaren."
Also in English:
"Penalty Code Article 208: He who imitates coins or notes of banknotes with the intention to issue for real, or have these coins or notes or banknotes issued for real, will be punished with imprisonment of up to nine years."
The penalty text is "continuous printed", repeated. The text is 2x complete and further partially. The readability is poor because the spaces between the words are left out.
Denominations in numerals repeated 2 times. Between them is abbreviation of the Bank of Netherlands - DNB.
Comments:
Designer: J.F.Doeve.
If you find my work useful I will be grateful for any help in supporting the site.
-
PayPal
-
For users of European Union banking system