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On September 17, the Royal Dutch Mint announced the appointment of its new Mint Master, Stephan Satijn. This will mark a change in Dutch coinage. From now on, all Netherlands coins and medals will will have a new Mint Master´s privy mark. This tradition dates back hundreds of years but has been discontinued in all but a few countries. In the Netherlands, this “personal signature” is used as a symbol of his tenure. When the role of Mint Master is being filled on an interim basis, such as during the search for a new one, the old privy mark is used with a star added. Satijn has chosen the oldest bridge in the Netherlands, the St. Servatius Bridge in Maastricht as his symbol, because it is the city of his birth, and because it represents both the role of the Mint Master as a bridge builder, and now that the mint is privately-owned, the connection between public and private. To celebrate the transition to a new Mint Master, a number of limited issue “transition sets” are being offered. These will include coins with the new privy mark and the others that have been used since the departure of the last Mint Master, Maarten Brouwer in 2015. Each transition set consists of five 8-coin sets in brilliant uncirculated and proof quality, two of the sets (in bold), including Satijn's first, are only available in the transition sets as they are not meant for circulation. They are: (The name of the Mint Master and the privy mark is in parentheses). 2015: Sailing Clipper (Maarten Brouwer) 2015: Sailing Clipper with star (Interim Mint Master Kees Bruinsma) 2016: Sailing Clipper with star (Interim Mint Master Kees Bruinsma) 2017: Sailing Clipper with star (Interim Mint Master Ted Peters) 2017: St. Servatius Bridge (Stephan Satijn). 40 coins, 5,000 set mintage, |
