50 Centimes - Léopold II Dutch text

Belgium's linguistic divide produced two parallel coin series throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries — one with French text, one with Dutch — struck in identical specifications but catalogued and collected as distinct types. The Dutch-language issues consistently saw lower mintages than their French counterparts, reflecting Brussels' administrative bias toward French at the time.

The .835 silver standard was established by the Latin Monetary Union, to which Belgium was a founding signatory in 1865.