25 Centimes - Hasselt

Hasselt issued this emergency fractional note in 1918 under German occupation, when the occupying authorities had effectively drained Belgium of its metallic currency. Municipal notes of this kind — issued by individual cities rather than any banking authority — were a patchwork response to a genuine coin famine, and Limburg produced several distinct local series during this period.

Van Langenacker was a local commercial printer, not a security press. The official stamp was the primary — and thin — defense against counterfeiting.