5 Centimes - Hasselt

Hasselt's 5 centimes note was one of hundreds of municipal emergency issues that flooded Belgium during the German occupation of 1914–1918, when the occupying authorities' requisitioning of metal coinage created an acute shortage of small change almost immediately. Cities, communes, and even private firms were left to fill the gap themselves. Van Langenacker was a local Hasselt printer, and the municipal seal served as the only authentication — a thin guarantee, but enough for a town where everyone knew everyone.

Limburg's proximity to the Dutch border made its occupation experience somewhat distinct; smuggling and cross-border exchange complicated local currency conditions throughout the war.