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Belgium1 Franc 1915 - German Occupation of Belgium
In August 1914 in violation of Belgium's neutrality Germany invaded the country from the east, no doubt as part of their plan to invade France to the south through Belgium. The German occupation forces would subsequently start issuing paper money to supplement the Belgian economy during that time. The issues were very unpopular in Belgium, due in no small part to the fact that they were authorised by the German occupiers. The Germans were in a bit of a conundrum though, they couldn't exactly issue paper money with the portraits of King Albert I or Queen Elizabeth of Belgium - so they had to dig into Belgium's past for a historical figure. Marie-Louise of Orleans was the Queen consort of King Leopold I of Belgium, the first king of Belgium. Marie-Louise was the eldest daughter of Louis-Phillipe, then king of France from 1830-1848. She was a very shy and withdrawn young lady of twenty years of age when she married King Leopold in 1832, but would become very well regarded and loved by the Belgian people for her charity activities but she was also remarkable for her beauty.
I like the printing of this note, but admittedly having seen other portraits of Queen Marie-Louise I find that I am somewhat disappointed with her vignette on this note as it seems to not quite accurately portray her. In fact the image appears somewhat insipid, given that it is known she was very attractive. Sadly, she passed away at the age of 38 years in 1850 from tuberculosis. 50 Francs 1944
This note was issued during WWII in Belgium and was issued through 1947, it has an agricultural theme. 100 Francs 1943
This lovely design was first used Banque Nationale de Belgique in 1933, the design was by artist Emile Vloors. This note is P-112. 1000 Francs 1940
This note was first issued in 1922, and in 1928 the colours were changed to a dark green on a multicoloured underprinting. The note features this allegory of "Fortuna" on the right of the note.
The note features a conjoined vignette of King Albert I and Queen Elisabeth of Belgium. During the 1920's and 1930's the Belgian Franc depreciated precipitiously in value vs other currencies such as the USA dollar and the British sterling, mainly as a result of debts incurred during the WWI German occupation and thence reparations that were only partially paid by the Germans after the cessation of hostilities. After the Germans occupied the country once more in 1940 they had intended to issue a currency meant to replace the Banque Nationale notes, but their plans never came to fruition and the ca. 1922 and onwards currency continued to be used through 1944 when the Allies liberated Belgium and the earlier currencies were withdrawn, demonetised and replaced by currency printed by Thomas De La Rue and Bradbury Wilkinson companies in Britain.
A fascinating aspect of this currency series was that trades were featured on the reverses of the notes, in this case a lacemaker is the subject. |
Page last updated on 1st January 2011 Года All pages and images copyright © David Parrish 1999 - 2011 Года
