Finance Sec. wants to sell Royal Mint

State Secretary Eric Wiebes of Finance wants to get rid of the Royal Dutch Mint, which has been struggling with financial problems for years. He will soon submit his plan to the Council of Ministers and then inform the Tweede Kamer, lower house of parliament, BNR reports

A letter Wiebes sent to the Tweede Kamer in January revealed that the Mint suffered a loss of 11 million euros on a turnover of 40 million euros in 2014. The company also has an outstanding debt of 18 million euros with the Ministry of Finance, the sole share holder.  Wiebes considered all possibilities and selling seems to be the best option.

The Royal Dutch Mint is alder than the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It's been minting coins Dutch coins from 1567 and got the exclusive rights for Dutch currency in the 19th century. But since the Netherlands abolished the 1 and 2 euro-cent coins, the Mint's income declined. To offset these losses, the Royal Dutch Mint to the Chilean market and minted 850 million peso's for the company. But that turned into a debacle, according to BNR, when the Chilean government imposed hefty fines on the Mint due to production errors.

In addition to minting coins, the Mint is also responsible for a number of public tasks, including guarding against counterfeiting and making sure that you can pay with coins without problem in the Netherlands.