1 Franc - Léopold III BELGIE-BELGIQUE

Belgium's zinc franc issues of this period exist because the German occupation authority requisitioned the country's copper and nickel stocks almost immediately after the May 1940 invasion. The shift to zinc was not a Belgian monetary decision — it was an imposed industrial reality, with base metal allocated to coin production only after Wehrmacht procurement needs were met. Zinc corrodes aggressively in circulation, and surviving examples in any respectable condition are genuinely scarce despite substantial original mintages.

The 1942–1947 date span bridges occupation and liberation, with post-war strikes continuing in zinc simply because replacement metal supplies had not yet normalized.