A while ago I was surprised by the Dutch Royal Mint (KNM). They had issued a set of colored tulip five euro coins in a very limited number. Only 750 sets and the set was sold out within hours.

What had recently happened… there exists a fake colored tulip euro set!

We are informed/warned about the imitation of the website of the Dutch mint! Here is the translated text:

Imitation Five Euro Tulip coin in color
26 april 2012

The Royal Dutch Mint received reports about an imitation release of the Silver Tulip Color set.

The reports are about an unofficial release of the Tulip Five euro, probably in circulation quality, in the colors Red, White, Blue and Orange. The set resembles the official set release d by the Royal Dutch Mint.

This release does not originate from the Royal Dutch Mint. The official Silver Tulip Color set is sold out at the Royal Dutch Mint.

The official Silver Tulip Color set can be recognized by the following features:
• The coins are packaged in the official luxury wooden cassette
• The use of the logo of the Royal Dutch Mint in the color gold on the packaging
• Certificate of Authenticity with coin specifications, background information about the coin and the contact details of the Royal Dutch Mint

The weird thing here, which really leaves me speechless, is that the imitation set can only be recognized by the packaging. It seems to be a perfect imitation. Also, it seems that the imitation is not a counterfeit coin because their used an official (non colored) coin and applied only a little coloring.

The price of a colored coin sold by the Royal Dutch Mint was 50 euros. The version without color was sold for 10 euros. If the coloring of a coin is relatively straightforward it seems to be profitable to color the coins yourself.

The question that remains is what is the status of these colored coins. Can anyone apply color to his or her coins? Is the imitation that is being sold somehow illegal and are steps being taken to stop the sale of this fake set? If the coins are real, and it is legal to add coloring then what is this warning for?

A new commemorative coin is being minted. It is a coin with a five euro value which means it can only be used in the Netherlands. Basically it means the coin is intended for coin collectors and the state treasury. Five euro coins appear around three times a year and this is the first coin of 2012. The theme of the coin are the relations between the Netherlands and Turkey which exist for 400 years.

As a symbol for this relationship the tulip has been selected. Although tulips are often associated with The Netherlands commercial cultivation of the flower began in Turkey. The coins has an open tulip with the portrait of our queen on one side, and a closed tulip with the Turkish flag on the other side, representing the origin or the tulip and the important symbol it is nowadays related to the Netherlands.

The royal Dutch mint likes to experiment and again they surprised us with something new. A set of coins featuring a colored tulip. Four colors were used, red, white, blue and orange. The colors of the national flag and the color that represents the royal family. Sadly only 750 sets were available so once again the entire set was sold very fast (less than 12 hours).

There is another 2 euro coin being minted. Very good for the treasury, but why is the Dutch mint always thinking so small. My point being that the special collectors versions of this coin was sold out in four days. The reason, there were only 15.000 coins being minted. These coins were sold with a nice profit for 10 euros each.

The direct profit for the government is 8 euro per sold coin. Furthermore, it is a pretty safe guess that all the coins will disappear into various collections resulting in a double profit for the government. But what I don’t understand is that in a time of crisis Holland is thinking so small. If 15.000 coins get sold in four days for sure there is a demand for more. With 30.000 coins you double the profit. Because this 2 euro coin will be wanted by collectors everywhere in Europe I think even one million coins would eventually be sold. A missed opportunity for the treasury.

They are doing it again! The royal Dutch mint has decided to sell a new set of coins. Coins that used to be legal tender will be created again just like that. This time it is not a set of various normal coins, but that are going to recreate a set of gold coins.

This recreation is made using the original stamps and using the exact same specifications and the exact same gold content as the original coin. Today the original coin has a list price of € 1600,-. You can obtain this recreation for € 199,-. With this exact recreation you will be the owner of the very first Dutch golden 5 guilder coin. A very special recreation that should not be missing in your collection.

The coins seem to be identical to the original, with the only difference that they will appear a lot newer. I think it is incredible that an official body as the KNM is allowed to produce and sell these coins for just 10% of the catalog value. Am I really the only person worried that the original coins will drop in value fast, because any normal person will be unable to tell the difference between the original and the recreation in 20 years.

By the way, what is stopping me to by myself an old coin press and create my own old Dutch guilders. Under the pretext that it might be interesting for collectors. I can then sell these coins for 90% of their catalog value. That in the future collectors can no longer have confidence in any Dutch guilder I will just take for granted.

Update:
My paranoia was partly unjustified. When I checked with the KNM it turned out that:

The difference between the original and the reproduction is shown by an “R” that is added to each reproduction.

Even though I now live in Spain I like to continue to collect Dutch coins. Luckily I’ve my family back home in Holland who don’t mind to every now and then pass by the post office and get me some special edition coin. The rest like the yearly sets I just buy online.

But now the royal Dutch mint has started a very strange action. To ‘honor’ the past they will create some replicas of ancient coins. Undoubtedly make some extra money, but the result seems highly undesirable. In the future it will be harder to know if a coin is ‘real’ or a replica. These coins are even made by the same organization. Fortunately the replicas will be made ??from silver, so the confusion will only arise with coins that were originally silver.

What is going to be the next step? Create replicas of entire collections of Dutch coins? Replicas that cannot be told apart from the real thing. I think it would be a wise choice if the royal Dutch mint focused on the current and the future and leave the past alone.