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1 Franc Comptes courants
| Issuer | Banque Nationale de Belgique |
|---|---|
| Year | 1914 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Reference(s) | P#81 |
| Obverse description | Plain cream paper note with typeset letterpress printing in dark blue ink. The issuer's name in French appears at the top, followed by the series designation in parentheses and the handwritten date 27-8-14; the denomination UN FRANC is printed in large bold type at centre, with a red serial number below. Two manuscript signatures appear at the foot, attributed to the Treasurer and the Governor respectively, with the payment clause and penal warning printed in the left and right margins. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Banque Nationale de Belgique (Comptes courants) UN FRANC Payable à vue La loi punit le contrefacteur des travaux forcés |
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| Comments |
The Banque Nationale de Belgique introduced this miniature 1 Franc note in August 1914 as an emergency measure — coin hoarding had stripped small change from circulation within days of the German invasion. The note was explicitly tied to the comptes courants system, meaning it functioned as a transferable claim against current accounts held at the bank rather than as conventional fiduciary currency, a distinction that mattered legally even if ordinary users ignored it.
The extreme small format was deliberate: paper this size was harder to counterfeit convincingly with the printing technology available to an occupying force in 1914.