Gulden

This article deals with Gulden as it relates to NationStates. For more general information, see the Wikipedia article on this subject.

Guffingfordian Gulden (GG)

Subdivision	1 gulden = 100 Cents (¢)
Exchange Rate to USD	1 NS$ : G 0.14 (free floating)
In use since	17XX
Currency Code	GG
Symbol	G

The Gulden - An Overview

The gulden (G) is the civillian currency of Guffingford, which became the only legal tender in Guffingford on a date between 1902 and 1905. The annals of that time are lost, due to a fire in the National Assembly of Guffingford. Bills were printed too and many dates were released in a similar fashion as proofs, for collectors abroad and within Guffingford. The gulden enjoyed a long history in Guffingford even before it became the only legal tender, but that story is long and boring to write down.

The gulden is struck in nickel, cents in brass. Commemorative designs are struck in silver, while gold has been completely removed from the regular monetary traffic in daily life since 1963. Mostly because it was becoming too expensive to coin, and because of massive hoarding. The old ducat guilders are highly sought after among foreign collectors, because of the high gold content and beauty. Since none of them ever saw any circulation, these are all in near perfect condition.

History

Pre-Colonial Currency

Before explorers and settlers began to inhabit Guffingford, many tribes traded with each other through bartering. A very simple currency system existed in the lands of the Ko-I-Noor civilization, where small nuggets of gold served as currency. Some wore a stamp of a mighty warrior or a chief, but only a handful of these are known to exist. Most have been molten by explorers and pioneers in later centuries as the native tribes were assimilated into the Guffingfordian society.

Two Hanseatic thalers. The top one bears the buste of Janz. Sigismund. The lower one of a city ruler, assumed to be High Lord Jacobus Hannesz.

The Hanseatic Thaler

By the time the late-medieval discoverers started to map Guffingford, the European Hanseatic League was in serious decline. Commerce and banking switched from the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic, which made trade with Guffingford a lot easier. Those who stayed in Guffingford, made up the majority of towns and cities on the new continent. To make trade with the Orient less difficult, several big companies were founded, but failed because of the fierce competition. Learning from past mistakes, in the early 17th century the mayer of Seehoek (Janz. Sigismund) presented a plan to ally the bickering cities into a new Hanseatic League for the eastern seas. The idea worked, but it required loads of capital in order for this plan to succeed for a longer duration.

The rich silver and gold deposits in Guffingford proved to be a valuable asset for the local economies, and from the silver mined thalers were hand hammered in small mints. All the thalers wore the head of their monarch, Lord, senator or mayer. Because they were all handmade in the 16th century, each is unique. As time went on, thalers gained popularity, but many people weren't rich enough to pay with thalers. The thaler turned from a very social currency in an elite currency only used by traders. Several new currencies followed each other (guineas, florins, crowns, livres, pounds and ducats) quite rapidly, and many of these remained in circulation for a long time.

The Gulden

Sometime in the 18th century, the gulden came into being. Gulden is a Dutch word for "golden", or "gilded" in some cases. Like any other currency of that day, the gulden was bumped around by the big monetary players of that time in Guffingford: the Hanseatic Thaler and the British Pound. However, the gulden remained strong and banks who issued the gulden began to link its value to ducats, thalers and the pound. Various schemes were produced, but the guldens for ducats proved to be the most profitable. However, since the gulden was growing in strength, people sought to exchange their currency for guldens. This was called "The Great Money Leech".

The legendary 1614 Sigismund Vyfdukaat (five ducat), a classic Guffingfordian numismatic rarity. Only 19 specimens are known to exist today.

Since no non-trading citizens could spend ducats, having them around turned out to be a liability instead of an asset, so hoards and hoards of ducats were changed for guldens. Many old ducats as well, such as the one depicted below. From all the gold and silver the banks received new guldens were made, thus growing at the expense of other major currencies. As time dragged on, the gulden travelled a long way, and slowly began replacing the other monetary systems. Between the colonies however, fiat money and barter reigned supreme until the early 20th century. Many rare guldens are reported to exist, some are listed below.

Mintmarks

A -- Hoogenbosch, founded 1612
Windlass -- Port Kramer, founded 1799
Palmtree -- Del Monte Pelado, founded 1834
B -- Bloupaarl, founded 1878
W (extremely rare) -- Windhoek, founded 1910, closed in 1919

Numismatic Rarities

Guffingford, known for its long history of coinage and currency, has quite a list of numismatic rarities collected all over the world. If you are interested in learning more about them, please click the title link to a table where the best known examples are described.

Coinage

Guffingfordian gold coins, since they were first minted as bullion in 1963 continue to enjoy a world wide audience of collectors and investors, because of the high quality and stunning design. Each year a contest is organised and the winning artist or designer is permitted to design the reverse of each coin, which makes it even more interesting to collect. Having the high purity in mind, this marvellous feat of fine engineering and design also finds a captive audience in investment circles. Furthermore, these items are sold under the worldwide gold value due to the fixed gold prices within Guffingford. These coins are resold in other parts of the world, sometimes being 150% more expensive!

From 1901 until 1963 Guffingford issued gold coins - without being on some kind of gold standard. These were issued mainly because people did not entirely trust the economies of all local cities, who each issued their own (paper) money in the void between the colonies. After independence, Guffingford made it clear to all liberated citizens it will tolerate only one currency system, decimal and supposed to make sense. From that moment on, the policy to destroy Knootian colonial money was adapted. In 1963 an official gold standard was introduced, and since then monetary stability endures.

At present, bullion coins are also available to the public, namely the one troy ounce Tien Dukaat. This startling coin used to be legal tender until all gold and silver was forcefully taken out of circulation to fill up the national gold reserves a little more, to ensure monetary stability even further. Unfortunately, most of these were molten into bars or ingots, but some survived and were released onto the market again, mainly for the rich collector. The primary use of these bullion coins, when they were legal to pay with, was to settle buisiness deals more easy with other national banking institutes, mainly in Imperial Armies and financing (government) projects. The 1 ounce ÐG had no real face value and the actual gold value in American dollars and/or Euros. The coin is knick-named Tien Dukaat, because of its weight, not face value.

Gold and Silver Coinage

The Ducat Guilder

The ducat guilder (ÐG) and the State Gold Value are each other's equals. The value of the ÐG entirely depends on the State Gold Value, and the government tries hard to keep the value of gold stable at all times. The ÐG is used for large government transactions in gold, which are paid in certificates on demand to the receiver. Citizens can also purchase these certificates, but are unable to pay with them, since it is not legal for store owners to accept these as legal tender. All banks however are obliged to pay the amount on demand, which is paid in either gold or silver, depending on the certificate. Most Guffingfordians are not into this kind of investment, mostly because of a lack of faith in economies. All gold bullion in Guffingford are issued as Ducat Guilders.

• One single privately issued Ducat Guilder weighs 3.494 grams of .983 fine gold. Since citizens have to pay in guldens to procure these, many citizens do not own them. However, to make simple matters more complicated, the government issued ÐG's pegged to 0.33 grams of pure gold.

Gold

Silver

Banknotes

Click here for larger image.

A Brief Historic Note

Banknotes have always been the primary means to pay an army. Guffingford saw a lot of siege currency during its history, and many have rich stories. From medieval times such as the papierthaler (Paper Thaler) and many others, most siege coinage was made from scrap metal, and, in more modern times, siege money was printed on paper or whichever was within reach. A very interesting dicipline in collecting, Guffingfordian war currency from the period between 1870-1920 is the most interesting. Today only banknotes from the First National Banking & Trust Co. Ltd. are legal tender. Many rather odd denominations are printed, but that kind of suits Guffingford. Today's paper money is fully backed my either gold or silver (not both) and printed on high quality paper, extra strength and durable. The paper closely resembles the paper on which euro bills are printed.

Siege Currency

Knowing the rather stormy history of Guffingford, most papermoney (called: 'papierguldens') was issued by small private enterprises, usually collaborating with local gold- and/or silvermines to use as backing. Most of these currencies ended in hyperinflation due to ignorance of the issuing companies and greed by bankers. Guffingford only had a few stable producers of papermoney until 1900, and most of them were Knootian banks with Guffingfordian branches.

Most of these siege currencies were spread by commanding officers during battles, without any backing whatsoever. In most of these cases the banks issued special banknotes without any backing, and when the officer left the whole printrun was declared illegal tender and a new range of banknotes was printed - with the gold backing of course. When the soldiers wanted to cash in for gold or silver, the bank was either gone or some nonsense reasoning was given why the soldiers couldn't be paid. This resulted in even more violence and distrust among the common people versus the "upper crust".

Exchange Rates

Here I present to you the exchange rates of the civillian gulden to other major currencies of NationStates and some real life currencies.

1 gulden is worth symbol: G (citizen currency)