50 Francs Commune de Blandain

Blandain is a small village just east of Tournai, occupied by German forces from August 1914. Like hundreds of Belgian communes during the occupation, it issued its own emergency paper money after metal coinage disappeared almost immediately into German requisitioning and civilian hoarding. The Société Anonyme de Lithographie & Cartonnage de Tournai supplied these notes locally — the printer was barely five kilometers from the issuing authority, which was entirely typical for the region's commune notes.

The official stamp serves as the primary authentication device, a common solution when engraved security printing was neither available nor affordable under occupation conditions.