Royal Dutch Mint

5 euro

15,5 g

33 mm

Silver 925°

12 500 pcs.

Proof

Tine Melzer

Royal Dutch Mint

On the front a stylized portrait of King Willem-Alexander on a world map of fingerprints, forming a mat layer on the shiny coin surface. The world map continues on the reverse, so that the coin conveys the sense of a globe. The reverse shows all of the Kinderdijk mills, modelled in 3D.

Information of the theme: The unique mill landscape at Kinderdijk-Elshout Situated almost entirely below sea level, the Netherlands’ sophisticated system of water management, comprising dykes, dunes, dams, sluices, pumping-engines and mills, has helped to keep Dutch land dry. From the end of the 15th century, the windmills at Kinderdijk-Elshout have formed part of this network. Problems with the drainage of the Alblasserwaard polder led to the construction of a series of reservoirs here, known as boezems, and a network of originally 20 mills that served to pump water from the low-level reservoirs into those higher up. Today, they make up the characteristic mill landscape at Kinderdijk-Elshout, with the picture perfect row of ten windmills at Overwaard particularly celebrated around the world. Dating from 1738 and 1740, the 19 windmills that stand here today welcome more than 130,000 visitors each year.