Belgian notes pre euro 02a - series 1978

In 1951, King Baldwin became the king of the Belgians, after the adbication of this father Leopold II.
The first set of banknotes during his rule, were printed between 1961 and 1971.
This set will be presented later. The second set under his rule, was introduced in 1978 and stayed in circulation till 1994. (see : http://rainbowstampsandcoins.blogspot.com/2021/01/belgian-notes-pre-euro-01a-series-1994.html)

The set starts with a 100 belgian franks note. These notes (and all notes from 100 BEF and above) remain exchangable at the national bank of Belgium. 100 BEF = € 2.48.
Therefore these notes are still expensive to purchase. Unfortunately, the National Bank does not sell the old notes, just accepts them.

100 BEF

1978 - 100 bef (Beyaert)

The architect Hendrik (Henri) Beyaert is depicted on the first note of this series.
As a young man, he started to work in the national bank of Belgium in Kortrijk, the city where he was born. Shortly after, he became an apprentice mason, involved in the construction of the train station of Doornik (Tournai) in Belgium. His skills for designing brought him to study at the Royal Academy of fine Arts in Brussels. He graduated succesfully, and became the architect of the central building of the national bank in Brussels.
The 100 belgian franks note, has text in Dutch on the front of the note, and French on the back of the note.

reverse side of 100 bef - 1978

At the back side of the note, a geometric design is drawn.
There are 2 different signatures possible on the notes:

first set of signatures

second set of signatures

to be continued...

Currency Today : Azerbaijan 8

The last notes of the Azerbaijan banknote series, are a 200 manat note (in circulation), and the high value 500 manat note (commemorative note).
500 manat represents nearly $300 / €265, and is rarely seen.

the 200 manat note:

This note, is in design similar to the in between type of the 10 manat note.
We see left and right in the border the hook-style markings. Here we see 7 hooks.
Presuming that 1 manat should have had one hook, 5 manat 2 hooks, 10 has 3 hooks, 20 manat would mean 4 hooks, 50 manat 5 hooks, 100 manat 6 hooks, and so we end with 7 hooks on this note.

200 manat (not in my collection)

the 500 manat note:

On the 500 manat note, the second Nagorno-Karabakh war (ended in 2020) is commemorated.
Although the area is still highly disputed, it is recognized as Azerbaijani territory. (3 countries however recognize the area as an independent state).

500 manat commemorative note - not in my collection

In the margins, we find the lines as in the new style notes.
As the one manat note has 1 line, the 5 has 3 lines, 10 (5), the 20 manat note have 7 lines, there arer 9 lines on the 50 manat note, 100 was supposed to have 11 lines and 200 manat 13 lines...
So we end up with 15 lines (/) on this 500 manat note.

500 manat reverse

On the reverse side, we see the mausoleum of the poet and diplomat Molla Panah (named Vaqif), the 'learned one'. His mausoleum was destroyed in the first Nagorno-Karabakh war, when the city of Shusha was devastated.

Molla Panah Vaqif on stamp

to be continued...

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...

Currency Today : Denmark 4

This is the 4th article about the Danish banknotes (series 2009).
To remain in the theme of the notes, again a bridge is depicted on the note.

The Queen Alexandrine bridge (Dronning Alexandrines Bro) is a road arch bridge that crosses Ulv Sund between the islands of Zealand and Møn.

500 DKK (€ 67,5)

Queen Alexandrine Bridge

Queen Alexandrine of Denmark

Queen Alexandrine Augusta of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1879-1952) was the spouse of King Christian X of Denmark. She was also Queen of Iceland from 1 December 1918 to 17 June 1944.

Queen Alexandrine understood how to navigate as part of the Danish constitutional monarchy through the turmoil of two world wars and the breakup of many European monarchies after World War I. She understood her emerging role as a “celebrity” and as part of the model for a royal family and that she remained bound by tradition. She used her charm and informality to reduce the gap between the royal house and the Danish population – making sure that the royal family stayed in their hearts in a time where society was changing.

In Danish history research, Queen Alexandrine is mostly seen as a quiet and amiable queen.

King Christian X of Denmark

Until now, Danish Kings and Queens (Margarete II) are loved by a large part of the population.









Interesting fact about King Christian X (Christian Carl Frederik Albert Alexander Vilhelm; 26 September 1870 – 20 April 1947), is that he was King of Denmark from 1912 to 1947 and the only king of Iceland (where the name was officially Kristján X), between 1918 and 1944.

Similar to the other banknotes, a holographic image on the front side, is repeated on the reverse side of the note.

holograpic image of the Keldby Vessel

The Keldby Vessel is not a Klingon space ship, but a bronze bucket, or more likely a wine container, from around 300 BC, it was found in the Keldby area and can be seen now in the Danish National Museum.

Keldby Vessel - on 500 DKK

Keldby vessel - real

As on the previous notes, a small map of the two locations (Queen Alexandrine Bridge and Keldby) are shown.

Map of central Denmark

Last post on the Danish banknotes so far, the 500 DKK-note.

There is also a 1000 DKK note in circulation, but not in my possession (yet).

maybe more to follow...

Currency Today : Denmark 3

Next on the list on danish banknotes, is a 200 DKK-note.

The front side shows us a bridge once more. The bridge in the image is the Knippel's Bridge
"Knippelsbro" is a bascule bridge across the Inner Harbour of Copenhagen, Denmark, connecting Børsgade on Zealand-side Slotsholmen to Torvegade on Christianshavn.

200 BKK (€ 27)

The history of the bridge dates back to 1620! After several wooden bridges, the current bridge (the sixth one), was originally known as Store Amager Bro (English: Great Amager Bridge) or Langebro (English: Long Bridge).

Knippelsbro by Janus Ridter

From around 1700 Christianshavns Bro (English: Christianshavn's Bridge) is seen. The current name stems from Hans Knip who became bridge caretaker in 1641, in charge of operating the bridge and collecting tolls from passing ships. His house became known as Knippenshus and during the 17th century the bridge became known as Knippensbro. And although this last name was never adapted officially, the bridge is known as the Knippel's bridge now.

Knippelsbro now

Further on the front side of the note, we see a holograpic image of a shield. As the image is not that clear, we have to look on the reverse side of the banknote, to see what it is about.

holograpic image of a shield - 200 DKK

It is an image of the Langstrup belt plate, a piece of decoration from the early Bronze Age (1400 BC).

Langstrup Belt Plate - 200 DKK

The Langstrup belt plate was found before 1880 together with a bronze knife and spiral
bangles. The decoration is composed by circular grooves and spirals, stamped probably by means of some standard punches into wax model before casting. Belt plates were worn by women on the front of their belts.

A detail of the decoration

The numbers are the turns of the spiral, counted at two different radial directions. The roman number gives the corresponding annulus. 

"It has, apart from the point, four zones with 15+22+26+32 = 95 spirals in all. Still, a numerical pattern does not seem to emerge. However, if one … multiplies by the number of the factor of the zones, the sum of the spirals turns out to be 15×1+22×2+26×3+32×4 = 265, or exactly the number of days in 9 months of the Moon-year (265½), or, incidentally, also the length of the average human period of pregnancy... 

Going one step further, and again multiplying with the zonal factors, but now incorporating the point of the Langstrup belt-plate as Factor 1 (but with the value of 0), a sum of 0×1+15×2+22×3+26×4+32×5 = 360 appears." 

Available: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325039515_Number_p_from_the_Decorations_of_Ancient_Artifacts.

reverse side of 200 DKK

Location of the Knippelsbro and the Langstrup belt-plate

More to follow ...

Currency Today : Denmark 2

For the second banknote in the 2009 series, we go to two places in Denmark:

detailed map of denmark - island Fænø in the middle

On the north of the map, a bridge between Snoghøj on the Jutland side to Middelfart on Funen.
The bridge depicted on the front side of the 100 DKK-note, is the "Old Little Belt Bridge" (Den gamle Lillebæltsbro). The bridge was opened in 1935.

(Old) Little Belt Bridge Denmark

100 DKK (about € 13,5)

We see in the left corner a kind of holographic image, which returns on the reverse side of the note.

detail 100 DKK

Hindgavl Dagger on 100 DKK

The image in detail is the Hindgavl Dagger, an artefact from 1900 - 1700 BC. It was found on the island Fænø; an island in the heart of Denmark.

It's an amazing artifact from Denmarks neolithic era. The blade of the dagger is hardly 1 cm thick.
It can be admired in the National Museum of Denmark, in Kopenhagen.

Hindgavl Dagger

Reverse side of 100 DKK

to be continued...

Currency Today : Denmark 1

Not all countries in Europe are using EURO as their currency.
So isn't Deenmark, which is located in the north of Germany (only land border), between the North Sea and the East Sea. It's connected to Sweden by a brigde (see my article on Swedish currency).

Denmark itself is the smallest of the Scandinavian countries, but it forms the Kingdom of Denmark, together with Greenland and the Faroe Island, who are autonomous constituent countries.

The current set of banknotes (issued in 2009) are 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1000 kroner (crowns).

The first note is already something special : the 50 koner-note...

front side of 50 DKK (€ 6,75)

On the front side of the 50 kroner-note, we see a detail of the Sallingsund Bridge. With 1.717 meters, the  Sallingsund Bridge (Danish: Sallingsundbroen) connects the island of Mors with the peninsula of Salling, in the north western part of Denmark. It is the fifth longest bridge in Denmark.

Sallingsund Bridge

The hologram on the front, returns in de picture on the reverse side of the note.

hologram

Skarpsalling vessel (clay)

It represents the Skarpsalling Vessel (a clay vase or pot) found in east side of Denmark.
On the map, on the banknote, both bridge and vase are located.

map of Denmark (white parts) with location of bridge and vase

reverse side of the banknote 50 DKK

There is something more about the banknote, that you might not have remarked at first sight.

First thing in Danish language, is that they use some archaic constructions for numbers.

1,5 halvanden half-second
2,5 halvtredje half-third
3,5 halvfjerde half-fourth
4,5 halvfemte half-fifth

It's also known in Dutch language, when talking about time : half twee (half-two) is 1:30 or half past one; half drie (half-three) is 2:30 (half past two) and so on...

Secondly, Danish numbering is 20-based and not 10-based.
Compare to the French, Swiss, french speaking Belgians .... 80 is quatre-vingt (4 times 20).
Although also 'octante' or even 'huitante' is used in Switzerland...

Same for the Danish counting. But how about 50 ...  well since 50 is 2,5 times 20,
the counting goes : 2,5 (half-third) times 20 = 50.
In stead of  'femti' (5 x 10) is 50, it became "2,5 times twenty" or halvtreds(ind-s-tyve)

To be complete : the multiples of ten, above 50 - should be considered as multiples of 20, and the 'multiplier' is one half away from the higher integer...

The base 20 numeral system is also called the vigesimal system.

50 halv-tred-s(ind-s-tyve) half-third-t(imes-of-twenty)
60 tre-s(ind-s-tyve) three-t(imes-of-twenty)
70 halv-fjerd-s(ind-s-tyve) half-fourth-t(imes-of-twenty)
80 fir-s(ind-s-tyve) four-t(imes-of-twenty)
90 halv-fem-s(ind-s-tyve) half-fifth-t(imes-of-twenty)

more to follow...

Odd stamps : 06 l Stamps on cotton / silk

Stamps on silk are always something special.
For my next item this is surely true.
Liechtenstein, the mini state between Switzerland and Austria has a long tradition among (European) stamp collectors, as they emit high quality stamps.

The sheet of 2013, was emitted to commemorate the renovated 'city palace' of the Liechtenstein princely familly in Vienna, Austria. Together with the 'garden palace', it is owned by the princely family for over 300 years.

Liechtenstein City Palace - Vienna Austria

After it was fully renovated, both palaces are open to the public.
The overwhelming baroque style of the building, and the neo-rococo interiors are reflected in the sheetlet, issued by the Liechtenstein post.
The sheet is composed of 3 stamps, but the design runs throughout the sheetlet.
Only the 3 stamps are in full colour, with gold overprint, the board outside the stamps are in pink.

sheet of 3 embossed stamps on silk

reverse side of the sheetlet - embossed printing

On the back side of the stamps, we see and feel the embossed printing.
The silk structure makes it feels as if one was touching the wallpaper in the grand rooms of the palace.

Interior detail Liechtenstein palace - Vienna

detail stamp

the decoration continues in the border

Truly a wonderful sheet to have in your collection. And an invitation to visit the palace in Vienna.
The sheet was issued for the reopening to the public of the city palace, and can be visited twice a month on Fridays (€ 25),  or even rented! 
One hall (or should I say 'saloon' or 'parlour' can be rented from € 5500 on...)
I'll stick to the sheetlet, and dream away...

more to follow