Lion’s dollar, Dutch Republic; first dollar of the Dutch Republic

During the Middle Ages in the Netherlands, a ‘stiver’ was first a large piece of silver. After the introduction of the decimal numeral system in the 19th century, its value became 5 cents; later, the coin was struck in copper. Originally made of gold, the guilder was derived from the florin, a coin from Florence, Italy, but was later made of silver, and became the Dutch standard coin. The ‘daalder’, thaler, or dollar, owes its name to Joachimsthal, where it was first minted. This coin became a standard currency for international trade and spawned worldwide successors such as the dollar.