Catalog
100 Francs
| Issuer | Banque Nationale de Belgique |
|---|---|
| Year | 1856 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 150 × 80 mm |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | LA LOI PUNIT LE CONTREFACTEUR BANQUE NATIONALE à Bruxelles CENT FRANCS Payable à Vue LE 2 JANVIER 1856. (Translation: The law punishes the counterfeiter National Bank In Brussels One Hundred Francs Payable on sight January 2nd., 1856.) |
| Reverse description | Red intaglio print presenting a mirror composition of the obverse design, with two allegorical seated female figures as the central vignette. Two rounded official stamps appear on the face, one in red and one in black. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Léopold Wiener was primarily a medallist — his work for the Royal Belgian Mint ran to hundreds of dies — which makes his involvement in banknote design for the Banque Nationale something of a sideline, though his engraver's instinct for fine relief work translated directly into the intaglio-heavy style characteristic of these early issues. The National Bank's in-house printing works had only been operational for a few years by 1856, and the press was still finding its footing against the established European security printers.
Pick 47 is among the scarcer survivors of the series. Belgian notes of this period circulated hard and were not systematically preserved by the issuing bank.