But Aruba postponed its scheduled independence in 1990 and rescinded its request altogether (for the time being, absent a referendum) in 1995, so this 5-florin was not an issue of an independent Aruba, despite its 1996 date.
The square 5-florin (high-value among Aruban circulating coins) was introduced in 1995 as a replacement for a paper note, and it displaced as well the Aruban 2½-florin (a modern Caribbean version of the famous Riksdaalder), which had been struck in relatively small numbers beginning with the debut of Aruba’s new florin a decade earlier.
Production of the square 5-florin peaked with this 1996-dated piece and quickly declined until by 2000 the coin’s annual production was confined to sets only. Mintage of the square 5-florin continued in small quantities until the last year of production, 2005, when just 2,500 were struck.
In 2005 a round 5-florin was introduced by Aruba, but whether these square coins were withdrawn or demonetized I do not know. (Additional information would be much appreciated.)
Why the 5-florin was changed to a more conventional round flan I do not know. Perhaps the idea was to reduce the possibility of confusion between the high-value 5-florin and the square 50-cent piece of the same color, but only 1/10th the value. Whatever the reason or reasons for the switch, the square 5-florin was much more fun than its round counterpart, in my opinion anyway.
“Aruba” is the country name, but its portrait of Queen Beatrix marks this coin as a Dutch relation. The Aruban coat-of-arms visible opposite is likewise a Dutch product (dating from 1955), and depicted in its upper left quadrant is what ultimately became my grandmother’s favorite home remedy: aloe vera!
Granny kept an aloe plant in a clay pot on the back porch. A cut, a sore, a burn, a bite—off came a chunk of that poor crippled and badly abused aloe plant.
For collectors, coins are sometimes like photographs in an old family album. This square 5-florin looks more like a snapshot than most.
v.