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10 Centimes - City of Aalst
| Issuer | Stad Aalst (City of Aalst) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1914-1918 |
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| Composition | Paper |
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| Obverse description | The face of this wartime municipal emergency note presents a symmetrical vignette in which a nude allegorical figure of Mercury — identifiable by his winged helmet and money bag — appears in mirror image on both left and right sides of the central field. The denomination and issuing authority are stated in Dutch in upper and lower text registers, with printer's imprint at the foot. The overall layout is typographically simple, consistent with letterpress production by a local printing house. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is organized around a large central numeral '10', flanked symmetrically by two diamond-shaped heraldic cartouches set within circular frames: the left shield bears a sword and the right a lion, both municipal arms associated with Aalst. A plain rectilinear border encloses the entire composition, with the issuing authority and redemption clause repeated in Dutch along the upper and lower margins. |
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| Comments |
During the German occupation of Belgium in WWI, the occupying authorities rapidly drained the country of coin. Municipalities across Belgium — hundreds of them — were left with no option but to print their own fractional emergency notes to keep local commerce moving. Aalst's issue was part of this wave, printed locally by Van de Putte-Goossens, a firm that would have been printing commercial stationery and trade ephemera before the war forced a more urgent assignment.
Municipal notes of this type were explicitly forbidden from circulating outside their issuing commune.