Aruba Silver 1 Florin

The Aruba 1 Florin, struck in silver from 1986 onward, was one of the few modern coins to circulate despite its intrinsic value exceeding its face worth. This made it a practical curiosity in everyday transactions on the island.

Minted by the Royal Dutch Mint in Utrecht, the coin featured a design with the Aruban coat of arms on one side and the reigning Dutch monarch on the other. Sizes varied slightly over the years, but most were about 33 millimeters in diameter and weighed around 15 grams of .925 silver. Exact mintage figures for each year are spotty; records from the 1990s, for instance, were never fully published.

We don't know precisely why Aruba opted for silver when many nations shifted to base metals. It might have been a nod to historical Dutch trade coins, or simply a matter of available stock. As for its end in 2010, that coincided with currency reforms, though the details are murky.

It's worth noting that, unlike some coins, this one didn't inspire much mythology—just solid, if underappreciated, numismatics.