Belgian notes pre euro 01e - series 1994

2000 BEF

The 2000 Belgian franc note is the second last one in this series, but the last one depicting 19th and 20th century artistst.

This note was among my absolute favourite ones at the time they were in use, and still is.
I do love the colour purple and due to the higher face value at the time (2000 Belgian francs = € 49.58) - I was still young and 2000 francs was still worth some money - the note came rarely in my hands.
Nowadays, € 50 is almost the standard in redrawing money...

2000 Belgian franks front - Victor Horta

Horta was born on January 6, 1861 in Ghent and died in Brussels in 1947.
He was a pioneer of modern architecture and a representative for the Art Nouveau style.

Horta house and workplace - now museum

Among his works are many private houses and hotels in Belgium, the first designs for the central station in Brussels, and even the tomb of German composer Johannes Brahms (in Vienna).
Not only was he the leading designer of many houses, he also designed many interior objects, wall and window decorations, in order to make a complete project in the same style.

Solvay Hotel Brussels

On the reverse side of the note, we see the curvy flower ornaments that are typical for the art nouveau architecture.

reverse side of 2000 Belgian francs note

The idea of bringing nature back into the houses (after the industrial revolution of the end of the 19th century) through flower designs, nymphs, wavy lines, floursish in the early years of the 1900's.

There is hardly a single straight line to be found, unless it is realy necessary.
Opposite to the art deco style (where nature is often more depicted as stylized people, animals, plants and objects, with more geometric shapes and mazes), the art nouveau (or Jugendstil in German - Belle époque in French), is a true roller coaster for the eye.

Art Nouveau in all its glory

All of the security features on the previous notes, are also present in this note.
more info : https://www.nbb.be/doc/ts/publications/brochures/2000en.pdf

to be continued...

Belgian notes pre euro 01d - series 1994

1000 BEF

The fourth note in the set of artist notes, is a 1000 Belgian franc note (€ 24.80)
Again a 20th century artist is depicted on the note.
Constant Permeke was born in Antwerp in 1886, and died in Ostend in 1952. He is the most famous representatives of the Flemisch expressionism.

1000 Belgian francs note - Constant Permeke

Many of his paintings and sculptures refer to the hard, but fertile soil of Flanders' fields between the two world wars. Depicting the hard and rough life of many people living in the country side.
The sailing ship on the front side of the note, refers to his live in Ostend.

Reverse side of 1000 Belgian francs

Moving to the sea side reflects in the work of Permeke, as he often depics fishermen and their lives.
His sculptures are as rough as the live of the working class, but there is a certain beauty in the naive uglyness in his works.

Permeke's fisherman

This 1000 francs note has similar security treads to the ones on the 500 francs note.

embossed printing

In the top left corner of each note, there are always horizontal and verical lines.
The code is quite simple and indicates the value of each note, for blind and visually impaired people:

the 'secret code'

to be continued...

Belgian notes pre euro 01c - series 1994

Third note in the last set of Belgian banknotes is a 500 Belgian francs note.

500 BEF

René Magritte, born in Lessines (Belgium) on November 21, 1898, is one of the leading representatives of surrealism.
In his work, Magritte paints almost photorealistic, but combines objects in an unsual context, objects become subject of a metamorphosis, or parts of objects are represented as the full object (tree in the shape of a tree for example).
In several works,fishes or a nude or blindfolded woman appears; this refers to the fact that the young Magritte found his mother in the the Sambre river, after she comitted suicide.

In many of his works, Magritte leaves the viewer behind, wondering what (s)he sees is real or not.
He often defies laws of gravity or nature in his works (day and night at the same time) ...

500 Belgian francs - René Magritte

On the front side of the sky-blue 500 francs note, we see a young Magritte with a bowler hatted shadow (refering to he surrealism), and a leaf in a tree shape (or is it the other way around?)On the reverse side we find more men in a rain coat and with a bowler hat.

500 Belgian francs reverse side

Among the many security features on the note, (see previous posts), one new feature is added from this value on. The "500" on the reverse side of the note switches colour from blue over green to pink when viewed from different angles. 

colour shifting security print

One of the most famous painting of a pipe, and the text "Ceci n'est pas une pipe" ("This is not a pipe"), calls us, viewers, to think twice. We see a pipe, but it isn't a pipe. It's a painting of a pipe.

So, in this article,  you might have seen a banknote, but it wasn't a banknote.

Magritte in front of his painting

Magritte died in 1967 near Brussels where he is burried.
The 500 franc note is one of the more difficult  notes to find. Face value is € 12.40 euro.
Good copies sell from € 20 onwards - UNC notes from € 30 onwards.

to be continued ...

Belgian notes pre euro 01b - series 1994

200 BEF

The second note in the last series of Belgian banknotes is a 200 Belgian francs note.
It is the first note of 200 franks that was issued in Belgium, now the denomination of €200 is used and has similar colours.

200 Belgian francs with Adolphe Sax

 
The 200 note is dedicated to Adolphe Sax - yes the one from the saxophone.
On November 6, 1814 Adolphe Sax was born in the south of Belgium, in the city of Dinant.
Adolphe got his musical knowledge and skills from his father, Charles-Joseph, who moved to Brussels in 1815, as he became the leading maker of wind instruments, and supplier of the Royal Dutch Court.
In 1815, Belgium and The Netherlands were one country - as a result of the defeat of Napoleon in Waterloo.

Adolphe Sax, father of the saxophone

Originally the saxophone was made out of wood, and is therefore in the section of the wind instruments.  Because of the noumerous valves and levers, the wood broke easily, so the changed the instrument into brass.

The 200 francs note, shows a young Adolphe Sax, his instruments and music notes.

reverse side of 200 Belgian francs 1994

On the reverse side, a jazz combo is playing the saxophone and the city of Dinant is depicted.
In Dinant, several statues refer to its most famous citizen.

Statue of Adolphe Sax in Dinant

Besides the micro text and the hidden images (similar to the 100 BEF note), we can see the text "200 F" in the security thread

various security marks

The image of Sax in the watermark, appears white with a dark signature when the banknote is in the normal position, and opposite when held against the light.
Face value is still € 4.96 but good copies cost at least double.

to be continued ...

Belgian notes pre euro 01a - series 1994

For thise series of articles on Belgian banknotes, I start in reversed order.
This means, I will start with the last issued set before EURO.

This set consists of 5 banknotes depicting 19th and 20th century Belgian artists and one depicting the royal couple at the time (King Albert II and Queen Paola).

The lowest denomination is 100 BEF (Belgian francs) = € 2.48 face value.
All of the notes in this set are still exchangable at the national Bank of Belgium (BEF to Euro only).

100 BEF

100 Belgian francs 1994

The first note is dedicated to the painter James Ensor. Ensor was also a writer, composer, engraver and designer. He was born on April 13, 1860 in Ostend.
As a young talented artist, he entered the Brussels Academy of Art at the age of 17. But his non-conformistic and rebellious attitide made him leave the school "of short-sighted" 3 years later.
Masks are a common theme in his work, as well as the ecclesiastical and civil authorities who were often targeted in his works.
His masks also appear on the front side of the 100 francs note.

detail of 'Self-portrait with masks' (1889)

On the reverse side of the note, we see a beach scene - refering to his birth place, Ostend.

100 Belgian francs 1994 - reverse

detail 'Bathing in Oostende' (1890)

His most famous work : "Christ's Entry into Brussels" (1888) can be found in the J. Paul Getty museum in Malibu, USA.

The notes' measurements are : 139 by 76 mm.
It has many security features among two special ones : micro text and hidden images.

micro text, visible with magnifier

hidden images appear when the note is flipped sideways

 

more on this issue : https://www.nbb.be/doc/ts/publications/brochures/100en.pdf
to be continued...

Belgian notes pre euro 00 Introduction

How many banknote series were issued in Belgium before Euro?
This question is not that easy to answer, as Belgium did not emit series as a set each time notes were replaced.

Some countries issued full sets of notes as a complete series (like Switzerland) or even numbered their series (like Portugal).
Belgium does have complete series, but also additional notes (with small changes) belonging to existing series, additional notes issued by the national Mint (that issued Belgian coins), notes that came inbetween, as single notes, not really belonging to any particular set ...

Roughly said, there are about 10 'series' issued between 1851 and 1997.

I : 1851-1858 : Local and national banknotes - with script text in the left border frame
II : 1883-1914: Banknotes from 5 Belgian Francs to 1000 Belgian Francs - different variations
III : 1914 : first set of notes with simmilar design (20 BEF to 1000 BEF) and two notes of 1 and 2 BEF
IV : 1915-1918 : Word War I issues : (1 BEF to 1000 BEF) with Queen Louise-Marie or P.P. Rubens
V : 1920-1948 : King Albert I and Queen Elisabeth (1 BEF to 10,000 BEF) + some additional notes

VI : 1944-1950 : Kings (in a square frame) and cities (100 BEF to 1000 BEF)
VII : 1950-1952 : Kings (without frame) (100 BEF to 1000 BEF)
VIII : 1961-1977 : Famous people (100 to 5000 BEF)
IX : 1978-1992 : Famous people (100 to  10,000 BEF) and two notes of 20 and 50 BEF (mint)
X : 1994-2001 : Belgian artists (100 to 10,000 BEF) - last series before EURO

example from sets V to X

As mentioned before, this 10 groups are only a rough indication, and others might split up the notes in more groups. But I will describe the different series more in detail later on.

to be continued ...