Catalog
50 Centimes
| Issuer | Nationaal Hulp en Voedingskomiteit Dendermonde (National Aid and Food Committee of Dendermonde) |
|---|---|
| Year | |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 50 Centimes (0.50) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Letterpress note in green and dark blue on a solid green underprint covering the entire field, with the denomination numeral '50' set within circular guilloche cartouches at each corner. At left centre, a vignette of the turreted tower heraldic device of Dendermonde faces a crowned lion rampant on a shield representing the arms of the Province of East Flanders at right centre. The central text panel, reserved against a pale oval underprint, carries the issuing authority's name, the redemption value, conditions of use in Dutch, and two manuscript signatures below the printed titles 'De Schatbewaarder' and 'De Voorzitter', with the printer's imprint along the lower border. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | NATIONAAL HULP EN VOEDINGSKOMITEIT DENDERMONDE GOED voor 50 CENTIEMEN GELDIG VOOR AANKOOP VAN LEVENSMIDDELEN IN HET MAGAZYN VAN HET KOMITEIT OF IN DE WINKELS DER STAD AANGENOMEN DOOR HET KOMITEIT DRANKHUIZEN UITGESLOTEN Geldig tot 15 Maart eerstkomende. De Schatbewaarder De Voorzitter · A · DU CAJU - BEECKMAN - DENDERMONDE · |
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| Comments |
During the German occupation of Belgium, the destruction of Dendermonde in September 1914 — one of the most thorough razing of any Belgian town in the early weeks of the war — left local commerce without functional small change. The National Aid and Food Committees, established under the broader framework of the Comité National de Secours et d'Alimentation, were authorized to fill that gap locally, and dozens of communes issued their own emergency paper in denominations too small for the occupying authorities to bother suppressing.
The printer, A. Du Caju-Beeckman, was a Dendermonde firm — remarkable given how little of the town was left standing when these notes were needed most.