50 ECU - Albert II UNICEF Anniversary

The ECU — European Currency Unit — was never legal tender in the conventional sense; it existed as a basket currency used in EU accounting and exchange rate mechanisms. Belgium was among the most enthusiastic issuers of ECU-denominated collector coins through the late 1980s and 1990s, treating the denomination as a prestige vehicle in the years before the euro rendered it obsolete. This piece marks the 50th anniversary of UNICEF, founded in December 1946 as a temporary relief body for children displaced by World War II — made permanent in 1953 after its mandate proved too necessary to dissolve.