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500 Francs
| Issuer | Banque Nationale de Belgique |
|---|---|
| Year | 1852 |
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| Composition | Cotton paper |
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| Obverse description | Light blue intaglio note with the royal arms of Belgium at centre top, flanked by allegorical female figures in classical dress at left and right margins forming a columnar frame. The denomination "500" appears at upper corners with panel number "212", and two manuscript signatures appear above the place and date inscription "Bruxelles". A large perforated "ANNULE" cancellation is applied across the face. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Plain unprinted cream-coloured paper reverse dominated by a central ornate guilloche vignette of elaborate scrollwork and foliate engraving enclosing a small circular numeral "500" medallion, with two rampant lion supporters; the surrounding field is largely blank. A perforated "ANNULE" cancellation traverses the vignette. |
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| Comments |
Pick 50 is among the earliest large-denomination notes issued by the Banque Nationale de Belgique following its founding in 1850. The bank was established by royal decree specifically to unify a fragmented Belgian monetary system still operating through competing provincial institutions, and the 500 Franc denomination was never intended for ordinary commerce — it functioned primarily as an instrument of interbank settlement and merchant credit.
Surviving examples are genuinely rare. The redemption and destruction rate for high-denomination notes of this period was thorough, and Belgium's damp climate has not been kind to mid-nineteenth century cotton stock.