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500 Francs
| Issuer | Banque Nationale de Belgique |
|---|---|
| Year | 1887-1908 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 500 Francs (500 BEF) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
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| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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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.) |
| Reverse description | Printed predominantly in blue-violet, the upper register carries a frieze bearing the coats of arms of the nine Belgian provinces — with eight visible — flanked by the royal crown and the Belgian lion at centre. Two seated female allegories occupy the lateral margins, while the background vignette presents additional allegorical figures including a woman driving a chariot drawn by two winged horses. |
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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.