Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
5 Francs
| Issuer | Société Générale de Belgique |
|---|---|
| Year | 1915-1918 |
| Type | Standard circulation 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 | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | SOCIÉTÉ GÉNÉRALE DE BELGIQUE (Société Anonyme) FRANCS 5 FRANCS LE PRÉSENT BILLET SERA ÉCHANGÉ, AU GRÉ DU PORTEUR, CONTRE UN BILLET DE BANQUE DE MÊME IMPORT DE LA BANQUE NATIONALE DE BELGIQUE, AU PLUS TARD TROIS MOIS APRÈS LA CONCLUSION DE LA PAIX Le Directeur-Trésorier. Le Gouverneur. LA LOI PUNIT LES CONTREFACTEURS ET LES TRAVAUX FORCÉS |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in blue-grey on a light ground and is bilingual in layout. The issuer's name 'SOCIÉTÉ GÉNÉRALE DE BELGIQUE (NAAMLOOZE MAATSCHAPPIJ)' is set in large gothic lettering across the upper field, with the denomination 'VUF FRANK' in bold ornamental type within a central panel. The design is enclosed within a decorative guilloche border incorporating floral rosette corner pieces, and a counterfeiting warning in Dutch appears in a cartouche at the foot. |
| 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 |
The Société Générale de Belgique stepped into the monetary vacuum left by the German occupation of Belgium, issuing small-denomination notes after regular banking channels collapsed in 1914. It was an improvised arrangement — a commercial institution performing a quasi-central bank function under military occupation, with no formal mandate and considerable legal ambiguity about whether the notes carried any real redemption guarantee.
The 5 Franc denomination was the workhorse of this emergency series, circulating through four years of wartime austerity. Paper quality and printing consistency vary noticeably across the date range, reflecting supply difficulties rather than design changes.