Catalog
50 Francs
| Issuer | Banque Nationale de Belgique |
|---|---|
| Year | 1852 |
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| Size | 145 × 85 mm |
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| Obverse description | Black intaglio print on cream paper. Allegorical vignettes of Minerva at left and Mercury at right flank the central text panel, with cherub figures occupying each of the four corners. The Royal Arms of Belgium appear at bottom centre, and a red rounded stamp is applied at right. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | LOI DU 5 MAI 1850 50 ROYALME DE BELGIQUE 50 BANQUE NATIONALE Payable à Vue CINQUANTE FRANCS Bruxelles, le 1 Juin 1852 (Translation: Law of May 5, 1850 Kingdom of Belgium National Bank Payable on sight Fifty Francs Brussels, June 1st., 1852) |
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| Comments |
The Banque Nationale de Belgique was only a year old when this note entered circulation — the bank was founded in 1850, and the 50 Francs was among its earliest emissions. Léopold Wiener was primarily a medallist and engraver to the Belgian royal court, not a commercial banknote designer, which gives this issue an unusual sculptural quality in its intaglio work that later BNB notes largely abandoned in favor of more conventional security engraving.
Pick 4 is genuinely rare at this date. Early Belgian notes suffered heavy attrition through redemption and destruction, and the 1850s issues are among the most seldom encountered in any condition.