The Netherlands Antilles of the Dutch Antilles was a constituent state of the Kingdom of the Netherlands made up of several island territories in the Caribbean Sea. It was grouped into two: the northern group includes Sint Eustatius, Saba, and Sint Maarten, and the southern group was made up of Curacao and Bonaire. The Netherlands Antilles was formed in 1954 as an integral part of the Netherlands. Although it was dissolved on October 10, 2010, none of the member islands chose full independence. Rather, they became autonomous countries or special municipalities.
Contrary to most islands in the Caribbean, the Netherlands Antilles didn’t rely heavily on sugar and crops export but on regional trading and finance, oil refining, and tourism. These eventually became the key sectors in the economy of the Netherlands Antilles. On the other hand, agriculture, forestry, mining, and fishing made a minor contribution to the islands’ economy.
The Netherlands Antilles used the Netherlands Antillean guilder as its official currency. Banknotes were denominated in guilders but were expressed on the banknotes using the Dutch term “gulden”. The first banknote was issued by the state in 1955 bearing the state name in Dutch and featuring a ship in a dry dock on the obverse, and the national emblem on the reverse.
A set of notes was introduced by the Bank of the Netherlands Antilles in 1962. The paper bills were in denominations of 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, and 250 guilders. They bear a unified design featuring an allegorical woman and scenery or a landmark on the obverse, and the coat of arms on the back. On its 1967 - 1972 issues, the allegorical woman design was replaced with the Statuut monument and the new coat of arms is depicted on the reverse.
Between 1986 and 1994, the bank released another family of notes that highlight native birds on the front and the bank logo on the back. Similar notes were issued from 1998, bearing new security features such as Omron rings, colorful planchettes, and gold foil patches and iridescent printing.