Belgian Numismatic

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1000 Francs 200 Belgas notes

The Belgian banknote denominated in both 1000 Franks and the 200 Belgas were issued by the Belgian National Bank from 1927 to 1943. The first note issued was backdated to 1926. This note is of interest to lace collectors due to the wonderful engraving of a lacemaker at work on the reverse. Following liberation in 1944, a new note printed in England replaced this one. Again, the new issue was backdated to 1943, so there are two different 1000Fr/200Belgas dated 1943.

In 1926, Belgium, as well as France, experienced depreciation and an abrupt collapse of confidence, leading to the introduction of a new gold currency for international transactions, the belga worth 5 francs, and the country's withdrawal from the monetary union, which ceased to exist at the end of the year. The belga was tied to the British pound at a rate of 35 belgas (175 francs) = 1 pound and was thus put on a gold standard of 1 belga = 209.211 mg fine gold. The 1921 monetary union of Belgium and Luxembourg survived, however, forming the basis for full economic union in 1932. In 1935, the Belgian franc was devalued by 28% to 150.632 mg fine gold and the link between the Luxembourg and Belgian francs was revised to 1 Luxembourgish franc = 1ΒΌ Belgian francs.

Following Belgium's occupation by Germany in May, 1940, the franc was fixed at a value of 0.1 Reichsmark, reduced to 0.08 Reichsmark in July, 1940. Following liberation in 1944, the franc entered into the Bretton Woods system, with an initial exchange rate of 43.77 francs = US dollar set on October 5. This was changed to 43.8275 in 1946 and then to 50 following the devaluation of the British pound in September 1949. The Belgian franc was devaluated again in 1982.

To estimate the value of these 1000 Fr/200 Belga banknotes over time:

1926      

first posted 8/7/2010