Kingdom of the Netherlands, Wilhelmina, 10 Gulden 1897

This 'tintje', a gold coin of ten guldens, was minted in 1897. At that time the Dutch Queen Wilhelmina was just about seventeen. She had been sitting on the throne since her father William III had died in 1890; until she came of age, however, her mother Emma acted as regent.

Wilhelmina held the throne for 58 years, longer than any other sovereign of the Netherlands (1890-1948). Her reign outlasted the First and the Second World War, the depression era of the 1930s, and the decline of the Dutch colonial empire. During all these crises she was a strong queen – so much so that the British Prime Minister Churchill allegedly labeled her 'the only man in the Dutch government'.