My numismatic adventure №1 - Belgium 1939 (1 and 5 Francs)

WWII coins:


The coin itself

  • Belgium 1939 (KM# 119) 1 FRANC - Nickel ; mintage - 46,865,000 ; My valuation – 0.50EUR

Obverse: IMG_7783.jpg Reverse: IMG_7786.jpg

  • Belgium 1939 (KM# 117.2) 5 FRANC - Nickel (9.04gr) ; mintage - 8,219,000 ; My valuation - 2EUR

Obverse: IMG_7784.jpg Reverse: IMG_7785.jpg
(you may click on the coins to enlarge the image)

A bit of history

Belgium wasn’t invaded until 1940, and in 1939 not many seats in the parliament were held by extremist’s parties. Belgium after WW I preferred to stay a neutral country in politics.

However, in 1939 after the occupation of Poland, general mobilisation began in Belgium.

It is well interesting to note, that in the 1930’s a lot of paintings movements found a home in Belgium.

Noting that, Belgium was left heavily devastated after the First World War. Mostly due to the fact that a lot of machinery was seized.

My thoughts

Honestly saying, the years 1937 – 1939 are heavily left out of general historical information. There is a gap that I stumbled on, which carries on across many countries that I read about it at that period (pre-war).

Judging by the look of the coins, their weight and mintage, it’s obvious that they were mass adopted and used by all the people of Belgium.

If you have noticed, one of the coins has a French legend, the other a Dutch (the word Belgium is written first in Dutch on one coin, and on another in French). All the coins from that time were like that.

A ship with Jewish refugees is allowed to board in Antwerp, Belgium 1939

refugees.jpg.size.custom.crop.891x650.jpg


All pictures of coins are from my own collection

Image Source

Historical Sources - 1 ; 2

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