This chapter surveys the first half-century of the Bank’s history, drawing largely on secondary sources because only limited archival material has survived for this period. The original purpose of the Bank, as stated in its 1609 charter, was to take in various types of coin as deposits, facilitate book-entry (giro) payments among Bank customers, and pay out high-quality coins for withdrawals. Ongoing deterioration in the quality of the circulating coin, largely due to debasement, made it impossible for the Bank to adhere to its original mission. Instead, the Bank developed its own unit of account, the bank florin, which was applied to Bank money and was distinct from the unit of account for local forms of money, the current guilder. Having a distinct unit of account made it easier for the Bank to deter money-losing inter-coin arbitrage. This period also witnessed the development of a secondary market in Bank money to facilitate domestic currency exchanges (bank florins for current guilders). This era closed with the passage of the Dutch Republic’s 1659 coinage ordinance, which granted official status to the bank florin.

This chapter lays out the monetary, financial, and political environment in Amsterdam in the mid-eighteenth century — the high tide of the Bank. The main types of monetary assets within Amsterdam are described, along with the channels by which one monetary asset could be exchanged for another. This chapter also discusses major players in the Amsterdam money markets and their connections to the Bank. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the Bank’s relationship to the City of Amsterdam and fiscal aspects of this relationship.