Netherlands Antilles. Juliana. Year Set (FDC) 1977/1978 Zeldzame voorloper FDC set (oplage 10-20 stuks) (No Reserve Price)

The Netherlands Antilles FDC sets from 1977 and 1978 are among the most exceptional and scarcely preserved issues in modern Antillean numismatics. These two years were the precursors to the regular, commercially issued coin sets that were only officially released by the Netherlands Antilles from 1979 onwards. The 1977 and 1978 sets were never intended for sale to the public but were most likely compiled to commemorate the first strike of the new coins. To such ceremonial strikes, only a very small group of representatives from the Netherlands Antilles were typically invited, and only this limited delegation received a complete set of the freshly minted coins.

The mintage of these precursors is therefore estimated to be extremely low: it is assumed that no more than approximately twenty complete sets were compiled per year, and in some cases possibly even fewer. Precisely because these sets never had official commercial status, they have only been preserved sporadically and rarely appear on the market. This makes the 1977 and 1978 FDC sets true numismatic rarities, occupying a unique position between regular coins and the later official year sets. They constitute a tangible document of the transition to the Netherlands Antilles' modern issuance policy and are among the most sought-after items for specialized collectors of Caribbean and Kingdom-related coins.