10 Centimes - Léopold III BELGIQUE-BELGIE

Belgium's bilingual coinage compromise — alternating BELGIQUE-BELGIE and BELGIE-BELGIQUE legends to satisfy Flemish and Walloon sensibilities — was already a decade old by the time these were struck. The 1938–39 window is historically tight: Léopold III had been navigating an increasingly untenable neutrality policy, and German occupation in May 1940 ended the series abruptly. Wartime substitution coinage followed within months, making these nickel-brass pieces the last of their type struck to prewar monetary standards.