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20 Francs Comptes courants
| Issuer | Banque Nationale de Belgique |
|---|---|
| Year | 1914 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Banque Nationale de Belgique (Comptes courants) FRANCS 20 FRANCS Payables à vue LA LOI PUNIT LE CONTREFACTEUR DES TRAVAUX FORCÉS |
| Reverse description | Printed in grey-brown on a plain ground, the reverse carries the Dutch-language bank title NATIONALE BANK VAN BELGIË in bold lettering across the upper portion, with REKENINGEN COURANT immediately below. A large central guilloche rosette of elongated lobed form incorporates the numeral 20 within an inner circle above the word FRANK, with TWINTIG repeated within the decorative lobes on each side. The inscription BETAALBAAR OP ZICHT is set below the central vignette, and the Dutch anti-counterfeiting warning runs along the bottom margin. An ornate foliate guilloche border frames the entire design. |
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| Comments |
Pick 83 was issued in the weeks immediately surrounding the German invasion of August 1914, making it one of the last notes authorized under peacetime Belgian banking conditions. The Banque Nationale had been quietly preparing smaller, more portable denominations anticipating the disruption to come — this issue was part of that precautionary expansion of the currency supply.
The "comptes courants" designation reflects the note's origin in the bank's current account liabilities rather than conventional note issue, a legal distinction that mattered considerably to Belgian banking law at the time but became largely academic once occupation currency controls took hold.