The Dutch Bank of Amsterdam: How It Invented Modern Money

Before central banks, before paper currency as we know it, there was the Bank of Amsterdam — the Wisselbank. Founded in 1609, it didn't just hold money; it created a new kind of money. This episode of The Story of the Netherlands traces how the Wisselbank solved the chaos of 744 different coin types circulating in the Dutch Republic, invented the first stable unit of account — the bank guilder — and accidentally laid the groundwork for fractional-reserve banking. We look at the man behind the design, Dirck van Os, the bank's role in financing the VOC, and how its eventual collapse during the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War foreshadowed modern banking crises. Along the way, we explore the Amsterdamse Wisselbank building on the Rokin, the plague of 'slechte penningen' (bad pennies), and the ingenious but fragile system of 'banco' money that made Amsterdam the financial capital of the 17th century.

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