Catalog
500 Francs
| Issuer | Banque Nationale de Belgique |
|---|---|
| Year | 1887-1908 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | National Bank of Belgium Printing Works, Brussels, Belgium (1851-2020) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BANQUE NATIONALE 500 500 BRUXELLES, LE 12 JUIN 1907. CINQ CENTS FRANCS PAYABLE À VUE. LA LOI PUNIT LE CONTREFACTEUR DES TRAVAUX FORCÉS. (Translation: National Bank Brussels, June 12th, 1907. Five Hundred Francs Payable on Sight. The law punishes the counterfeiter with hard labour.) |
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| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | No watermark. |
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| Comments |
P#65 ran for over two decades, an unusually long lifespan for a high-denomination note, which meant successive signature combinations appeared across the series — four pairings are documented, reflecting changes in the Bank's directorate between the late 1880s and the first years of the twentieth century. Doms was among the more accomplished engravers working out of Brussels in this period, and the Hendrickx-designed plates show it.
The watermark was the sole mechanical security feature — no colored fibers, no silk threads. For a 500-franc note in active commercial use, that was thin protection even by the standards of the day.