50 Francs King Baudouin's Marriage

Issued to mark the May 1960 marriage of King Baudouin to Spanish noblewoman Fabiola de Mora y Aragón, this commemorative came at a politically turbulent moment — the Belgian Congo declared independence just weeks later, in June, effectively ending Belgium's colonial empire. The wedding itself had been a rare moment of national goodwill toward a king who had weathered years of controversy following his father Leopold III's wartime conduct.

Belgium struck bilingual parallel versions, with French and Dutch text variants produced in roughly equal numbers.