Summary

Only a small part of the Wikipedia page is relevant to Pepys’ time:

The guilder (Dutch: gulden), represented by the symbol ƒ or fl., was the currency of the Netherlands from the 13th century until 2002, when it was replaced by the euro. …

The Dutch name gulden was a Middle Dutch adjective meaning “golden”, and the name indicates the metal the coin was originally made of. The symbol ƒ or fl. for the Dutch guilder was derived from another old currency, the florijn. …

In the Netherlands, both silver and gold guilder coins were issued. In 1581, the silver guilder was established as the currency of the United Netherlands by the Estates-General. It was divided into 20 stuiver, each of 8 duit or 16 penning. At various times, other coins derived from the guilder emerged. Among them were the daalder of 1½ guilders (30 stuiver), the rijksdaalder (silver ducat) of 2½ guilders (50 stuiver) and the ducaton (silver rider) of 3 guilders (60 stuiver). The name daalder was derived from the German thaler.

3 Annotations

First Reading

Pedro  •  Link

equivalent to the English Florin {Italian name ?}

Florin An English coin representing 2s., or the tenth of a sovereign, issued in 1849. Camden informs us that Edward III. issued gold florins worth 6s., in 1337. The word is generally supposed to be derived from Florence; but as it had a lily on one side, probably it is connected with the Latin flos, a flower. (See Graceless Florin.)

(Brewers Phrase and Fable)

Second Reading

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Talking about Dutch money ...

"In 1520, the Kingdom of Bohemia began minting coins using silver from a mine in Joachimsthal – which roughly translates from German into English as Joachim’s valley. Logically if unimaginatively, the coin was dubbed the joachimsthaler, which was then shortened to thaler, the word that proceeded to spread around the world.

"It was the Dutch variation, the daler, that made its way across the Atlantic in the pockets and on the tongues of early immigrants, and today’s American-English pronunciation of the word dollar retains its echoes."

http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/…

Log in to post an annotation.

If you don't have an account, then register here.

References

Chart showing the number of references in each month of the diary’s entries.

1665