Page 16 - AHATA

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local Saturday 2 auguSt 2025
Did you know about...?

The history and meaning of the Aruban florin

(Oranjestad)—In our ‘Did see the ruins of the Bushirib-
you know about…?’-seg- ana Gold Mill Ruins, a coral
ment, Aruba Today dives motif, and the symbols of
into some (historical) facts Cas Floria (traditional Aru-
about Aruba, its culture ban house design) with a
and way of living. In this piece of mosaic.
edition, we look back at
the Aruban florin: its history, 25 florin
design and symbolism. On this orange bill, you can
see an Aruban medicinal
In Aruba, we know the 5, plant called Shoshoro. The
10, 25 and 50 cent coins, birds Trupiaal, Shoco, rock
along with the 1 and 5 Flo- drawings, and the symbols
rin coins. Aruban Florin bills of Cas Floria with a piece
include the 10, 25, 50, 100, of mosaic are also depict-
and rarely, the 200 bills. In ed. There is also a Purun
Papiamento we call our di ceramica (clay pot), in
currency Florin, but the reference to the relics left
term for money in general behind by our indigenous
is placa. Cents are called ancestors.
cen (pronounced: seng),
both in the singular and 50 florin
plural form. Most coins are On this bill, we see the
circular and their size de- Cododo (blue lizard found
pend on their worth. How- on the ABC islands), Can-
ever, the 50 cent coin is greu di tera (land crab),
easily recognizable by their Willem III Tower, and again
square shape, as is the 5 the symbols of Cas Floria
Florin coin by their golden with a piece of mosaic,
color. Every coin has the as well as a beach plant
Aruban emblem carved called Banana di rif. The
on it, with the other side colors are pink/purple.
displaying the worth of the
coin. The bigger 1 and 5 flo- also varied in worth. For ex- square, but now it is circu- pared to now, but still in- 100 florin
rin coins, however, contain ample, a 5-cent coin was lar. cluded beautiful designs This bill is green in color, rep-
the carving of the emblem once called Dos placa; and colors, often depicting resenting nature. Here we
on one side, while display- 10-cent coins were called Aruban bills: their design local animals. These past see the Yuwana (Iguana),
ing the side profile of the debchi; 25-cent coins were and symbolism designs were made by the Aloe, Toteki (lizard), the
Dutch king, Willem-Alexan- called diez placa and the The Aruban Florin collection Aruban artist Everino Fingal symbols of Cas Floria with
der, on the other side. When 50-cent coin was once contains a variation of col- in 1990 up to 2019. Between a piece of mosaic, and a
his mother, Princess Beatrix, called Yotin (pronounced: orful bills, displaying incred- 1990 and 1993, the 5 Flo- dance group performing
was reigning queen, it was yo-teen). We also used a ibly detailed and beautiful rin coin was a bill. The Fin- the Baile di cinta (forkloric
her profile that was carved distinctive coin worth 2 ½ designs that tell the story of gal designs also included dance with silk ribbons).
onto the two coins. cents, called placa too. Aruba on a single piece of a 500-Florin bill, which has
However, this last coin is paper. now been discontinued. 200 florin
Outdated Aruban coins no longer in use and has There is another bill with a
and their names become a relic of Aruban Prior to 2019, the Aruban In 2019, the Central Bank value of 200 dollars. The
In the past, Aruban coins money. Back then, the Florin bills were relatively of Aruba commissioned a brown color symbolizes
had distinctive names and 5-Florin coin used to also be simpler in design com- new design of the Aruba the earth of Aruba. Here
Florin bills, this time select- we see the Dornasol and
ing artist and former art the Warawara—both lo-
teacher, Nigel Matthew, cal birds, along with the
to present his new design. symbols of Cas Floria with
Matthew kept the tradition a piece of mosaic, the
of including local animals Tuna cactus plant, and the
and the familiar colors on Caha di orgel (folkloric in-
the bills. However, he in- strument, used for many
cluded additional designs traditional songs).
that represent the Aruban
culture and link to the In- Extra fact:
digenous inhabitants that the word “florin” supposed-
were the first to set foot on ly is named after the Italian
the island. city of Florence or it’s a ref-
erence to the Italian word
Current design and sym- “florino”, both explanations
bolism related to historical Italian
10 florin currencies.
On the 10-florin bill, you
can see a Turtuga blanco Source: Placa, placa,
(white turtle). The blue col- placa by the National Li-
or symbolizes the blue Ca- brary of Aruba.q
ribbean Sea. You can also