Catalog
20 Francs Sint-Jan-Baptist Zelzate
| Issuer | Paroisse Sint-Jan-Baptist, Zelzate (Province of East Flanders) |
|---|---|
| Year | |
| Type | Emergency banknote |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| 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 | A full-field green geometric underprint, applied by letterpress, forms the decorative ground of the note. Bilingual legends in Dutch and French are printed in black at centre, identifying the issuing authority, while the denomination numeral '20' appears at both left and right margins in bold type. The text 'TWINTIG FRANK / VINGT FRANCS' is set prominently at centre, flanked by the parish name 'SINT-JAN-BAPTIST ZELZATE'. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 20 20 SINT-JAN-BAPTIST ZELZATE TWINTIG FRANK VINGT FRANCS Paroisse Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Zelzate |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| 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 |
Belgian parish emergency notes occupy a peculiar corner of notaphily. During the acute coin shortage of World War One, hundreds of Belgian communes, parishes, and local businesses issued their own small-denomination scrip to keep trade moving after official coinage vanished from circulation. The ecclesiastical issuer here — a parish rather than a municipality — was not unusual for Zelzate or East Flanders more broadly; the Catholic Church's deep administrative presence in rural Flemish communities made parish-issued bon de caisse a practical and trusted instrument where no other authority stepped in.
Zelzate sits on the Ghent-Terneuzen Canal, a detail that gave it slightly more commercial activity than a purely agricultural village, which likely drove the need for this denomination specifically.