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local Monday 17 noveMber 2025
The history and meaning of the Aruban florin

(Oranjestad)—Aruba Today loves
to share parts of the Aruban culture
with our readers, diving into (histor-
ical) facts of Aruba, its culture and
way of living. In this article, we’ll
look at the Aruban florin: its history,
design and symbolism.

In Aruba, we know the 5, 10, 25
and 50 cent coins, along with the
1 and 5 Florin coin. Aruban Florin
bills include the 10, 25, 50, 100, and
rarely, the 200 bills. In Papiamento
we call our currency Florin, but the
umbrella term for money is ‘placa’.
Cents are called ‘cen’ (pro-
nounced: seng), both in the singu-
lar and plural form. Most coins are
circular and their size depend on
their worth. However, the 50 cent
coin is easily recognizable by their
square shape, as is the 5 Florin coin
by their golden color. Every coin
has the Aruban emblem carved
on it, with the other side displaying
the worth of the coin. The bigger 1
and 5 florin coins, however, con-
tain the carving of the emblem on
one side, while displaying the side
profile of the Dutch king, Willem-Al- ued. Tortuga blanco (white turtle). The
exander, on the other side. When blue color symbolizes the blue Ca- 50 florin
his mother, Princess Beatrix, was In 2019, the Central Bank of Aruba ribbean Sea. You can also see the On this bill, we see the Cododo
reigning queen, it was her profile commissioned a new design of the ruins of the Bushiribana Gold Mill (blue lizard found on the ABC is-
that was carved on the two coins. Aruba Florin bills, this time select- Ruins, a coral motif, and the sym- lands), Cangreu di tera (land crab),
ing artist and former art teacher, bols of Cas Floria (traditional Aru- Willem III Tower, and again the
Outdated Aruban coins and their Nigel Matthew, to present his new ban house design) with a piece of symbols of Cas Floria with a piece
names design. Matthew kept the tradition mosaic. of mosaic, as well as a beach plant
In the past, Aruban coins had dis- of including local animals and the called Banana di rif. The colors are
tinctive names and also varied in familiar colors on the bills. Howev- 25 florin pink/purple.
worth. For example, a 5-cent coin er, he included additional designs On this orange bill, you can see
was once called ‘Dos Placa’; 10- that represent the Aruban culture an Aruban medicinal plant called 100 florin
cent coins were called ‘Debchi’; and link to the Indigenous inhabit- Shoshoro. The birds Trupiaal, Sho- This bill is green in color, repre-
25-cent coins were called ‘Diez ants that were the first to set foot co, rock drawings, and the symbols senting nature. Here we see the
Placa’ and the 50-cent coin was on the island. of Cas Floria with a piece of mo- Yuwana (Iguana), Aloe, Toteki (liz-
once called ‘Yotin’ (pronounced: saic are also depicted. There is also ard), the symbols of Cas Floria with
jo-teen). We also used a distinc- Current design and symbolism a Purun di ceramica (clay pot), in a piece of mosaic, and a dance
tive coins worth 2 ½ cents, called 10 florin reference to the relics left behind group performing the Baile di cinta
placa too. However, this last coin is On the 10-florin bill, you can see a by our indigenous ancestors. (forkloric dance with silk ribbons).
no longer in use and has become
a relic of Aruban money. Back 200 florin
then, the 5-Florin coin used to also There is another bill with a value of
be square, but now it is circular. 200 dollars. The brown color sym-
bolizes the earth of Aruba. Here
Aruban bills: their design and we see the Dornasol and the War-
symbolism awara—both local birds, along
The Aruban Florin collection con- with the symbols of Cas Floria with
tains a variation of colorful bills, a piece of mosaic, the Tuna cac-
displaying incredibly detailed and tus plant, and the Caha di orgel
beautiful designs that tell the story (folkloric instrument, used for many
of Aruba on a single piece of pa- traditional songs).
per.
Extra fact:
Prior to 2019, the Aruban Florin bills The word “florin” is supposedly
were relatively simpler in design named after the Italian city of
compared to now, but still included Florence or it’s a reference to the
beautiful designs and colors, often Italian word “florino”, both expla-
depicting local animals. These past nations related to historical Italian
designs were made by the Aruban currencies.q
artist Everino Fingal in 1990 up to
2019. Between 1990 and 1993, the Source: Placa, placa, placa by the
5 Florin coin was a bill. The Fingal National Library of Aruba
designs also included a 500-Florin
bill, which has now been discontin-