Belgian banknotes King Albert I (part 6)

The last banknote that I will present in this set of King Albert I- notes, is the 5 Francs (or 1 Belga).
There are 3 types of this banknote, and they were issued as follows :

Type 1 : Issued from 1.4.1922 till 25.6.1926 (Krause n° 93)
Type 2 : Issued from 14.6.1926 till 10.5.1931 (Krause n° 97)
Type 3 : Issued from 1.3.1938 till 11.5.1938 (Krause n° 108)

Each of these types appear with 2 different signature varieties.

Type 1 has no text in the white circle where the watermark can be found.
Type 2 has both words "Trésorerie / Thesaurie" on the front of the banknote
Type 3 has the French 3 "Trésorerie" on the front and the Dutch "Thesaurie" on the back

So far, I  don't have a copy of  Type 1.

Krause - Belgium n° 97 (Type 2)

Detail type 2 - Krause n° 97

Detail type 3 - Krause n° 108

3 different printing dates : first last series of Type 2 - 2 prints of Type 3

On the back side of the banknote, we see a miner sitting and looking over a mining area.
Just behind him, the towers of the mines can be found.

Back of Type 3 - Krause n° 108

detail Krause n° 108 - miner and tower

Prices varie from 1 € in used condition, to 25 € in perfect condition.

Belgian banknotes King Albert I (part 5)

Some time ago I posted an overview of belgian banknotes issued under King Albert I.
More recently, I have talked about the single issues in individual posts.

Today I bring you the smallest note of the series : the 1 franc / 1 frank

Belgium - Krause n° 92

This banknote was issued in the 1920's and is in the same style as the other notes (5, 20, 100 and 1000 francs).
On the top, right from the middle, we find the printing dates.
These varie on many notes.
For collectors who search for printing dates, a great asset of course.

I don't have that many 1 franc notes, but still, I can show some of the printing dates :

twice 1920 - one time 1922

At the back of the note, there isn't much special. Of course, the 1 franc note is the lowest value of this set, so there isn't much special to put on it, as the note is quite small.(+/- 40 cm²).

Since the note is quite small, there's not place for a decent watermark. But the entire banknote is printed on paper with a certain watermark.
I tried to scan it with a backlight, but that's not easy with a normal scanner.
However I more or less succeeded in making a scan that allows you to recognise this watermark.

To make it more visible, I added some lines, so you can follow the pattern of wavy, flowerish lines.

Wavy lines as watermark on the entire banknote Krause Belgium n°92

Collecting is such an interessting hobby, isn't it :-)

Belgian banknotes King Albert I (part 4)

Let us have a closer look on the King Albert I issues of 1921 - to 1948.

There are 4 types of this banknote :


type 1 (Krause n° 94)   
     -  issued from 1.6.1921 to 10.4.1926
     -  date on top of the note
     -  nothing written in the white circle
     -  2 signature varieties

type 2 (Krause n° 98)   
     -  issued from 14.4.1926 to 27.1.1940
     -  date on top of the note
     -  "Trésorerie" AND "Thesaurie" in the white circle
     -  3 signature varieties

type 3 (Krause n° 111)   
     -  issued from 27.1.1940 to 13.6.1947
     -  date on top of the note
     -  "Trésorerie" on one side  and "Thesaurie"on the other side, in the white circle
     -  4 signature varieties

type 1 (Krause n° 116)  
     -  issued on 1.9.1948
     -  date in left corner on the note
     -  "Trésorerie" on one side  and "Thesaurie"on the other side, in the white circle
     -  4 signature varieties

Type 3 in detail :

20 francs - krause 111 c

We can see the date of issue, on top, in the middle.
There are many printing dates.

Printing dates

Type 3 has dates between 27.1.1940 and 13.6.1947
There are also 4 different signatures.

signature details

Watermark area :

type 1 has no text in this area,
type 2 has the french word : 'trésorerie' at the top, and the dutch word 'thesaurie' at the bottom
type 3 has the french word at the bottom on the front side, the dutch word on the back side
type 4 is similar to type 3

watermark area for type 3

Details :

coat of arms - Brussels

coat of arms - Brussels

In the left corner, we find the coat of arms of the city of Brussels.

The main image shows the market square of Brussels:

Belgian banknotes King Albert I (part 3)

Between 1921 and 1927 a 100 belgian franks note was in circulation.
It's similar to the ones shown before (see part 1 and part 2) but the value is only in belgian franks (not in "belgas" as shown earlier).

100 franks (Krause 95) front

nice art deco design

At the back we see the same design as I showed before, but in fact, this note was issued before the one I showed earlier.

100 franks (Krause 95) back

Mark some of the details at the bottom of the note.
This note refers to the city of Liège. (dutch : Luik, german : Luttich).

The abbey of Liège can be found on the left corner at the bottom.

The right image was used years later, on a stamp.
This stamp is subject for another article, but that will be for another time.

see: http://rainbowstampsandcoins.blogspot.com/2011/04/belgian-banknotes-king-albert-i.html

Belgian banknotes King Albert I (part 2)

As you might have noticed, the face value on the Belgian banknotes is always in French or Dutch. Every next not in the series starts with the opposite language.  This to maintain the fragile balance between the two major language groups in Belgium (Dutch and French), An indication in German (the third official language in Belgium) is only rarely found on banknotes, especially on the smaller denominations.
Next to the face value in Belgian Francs, you'll find another denomination: the "Belga"; one Belga equals 5 Belgian francs.
To compare: around 1920 : 1 belgian franc equals the value of about 1,90 €
(let's say for one belgian franc, you had a decent coffee on a very nice terrace in town)
The 'Belga' was never a real currency, the belgian Franc was, till euro took over in 1999/2002.

As you saw in the previous post, the banknote series start with 1 Belgian franc.
There are notes of 5 Belgian francs (1 Belga); 20 Belgian francs; 100 Belgian francs and even 1000 Belgian francs...
The 1000 Belgian franc banknotes must have had more value than the average income in the 20's of the previous century. It's a spledid design, with on the back side a lace making lady, the Cloth Halls of Ypres and a smaller map of the Northsea region. This banknote is remarkable, not only to the high face value and the extremely nice design, but also the size of the banknote is worth looking at. It's as big as an A5 - paper.
No wonder only wealthy people could possess such a note. They were probably the only ones who could afford a wallet that size.

Belgian banknotes King Albert I

Albert I, third king of the Belgians, was a very popular King.
Upon the death of his uncle, Leopold II, Albert succeeded to the Belgian throne in December, 1909 (Albert's father having died in 1905). Previous Belgian kings had taken the royal accession oath only in French; Albert innovated by taking it in Dutch as well (Bronne). He and his wife, Queen Elisabeth, were popular in Belgium due to their simple, unassuming lifestyle and harmonious family life, which stood in marked contrast to the aloof, autocratic manner and irregular private life of Leopold II. An important aspect of the early years of Albert's reign was his institution of many reforms in the administration of the Belgian Congo, Belgium's only colonial possession.

He was the King who reigned Belgium during the second World War, and joined the soldiers in their battle against the nazi-regime. Therefor he's also know as the soldier-king, and often depicted with helmet.

A passionate alpinist, King Albert I died in a mountaineering accident while climbing alone on the Roche du Vieux Bon Dieu at Marche-les-Dames, in the Ardennes region of Belgium near Namur. His death shocked the world and he was deeply mourned, both in Belgium and abroad. Because King Albert was an expert climber, some questioned the official version of his death. Nonetheless, rumors of murder have been dismissed by most historians.