Catalog
500 Francs
| Issuer | Banque Nationale de Belgique |
|---|---|
| Year | 1852 |
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| Size | 155 × 85 mm |
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| Obverse description | Black intaglio print on white paper, with allegorical figure groups flanking the central text panel: Industry and Trade at left, Liberty and Justice at right, each rendered as classical female figures with symbolic attributes. The Royal Arms of Belgium appear at upper center above an ornate guilloche cartouche bearing the denomination and issuing authority legends, with a circular red stamp at left. Two lion vignettes occupy the lower corners, and four heraldic shields are distributed along the upper border. |
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| Obverse lettering | 500 ROYALME DE BELGIQUE 500 BANQUE NATIONALE Payable à Vue CINQ CENTS FRANCS Bruxelles, le 1 Juin 1852 (Translation: Kingdom of Belgium National Bank Payable at sight Five Hundred Francs Brussels, June 1st., 1852) |
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| Comments |
The Banque Nationale de Belgique was established by royal decree in 1850, making this 1852 note among the earliest issues from an institution barely two years old. The 500 franc denomination placed it firmly in the realm of commercial and wholesale transactions — a sum well beyond the reach of ordinary wages — so genuine wear from hand-to-hand retail circulation is essentially nonexistent on surviving examples.
Léopold Wiener was primarily a medallist and engraver of considerable reputation, not a banknote designer by trade. His involvement signals the bank's early ambition to produce notes of genuine artistic standing rather than purely functional currency instruments.