Belgium 50 Centimes, 1 and 2 Francs 1910 to 1918

Coins from Belgium come in various languages. Often the same coin is annotated with French or Dutch legends:

French: BELGIQUE or BELGES
Dutch: BELGIE or BELGEN

Chris's coin uses the Dutch annotations. The coin in our photo uses the French annotations. Even though the inscriptions are different, the designs are the same, and they come in 50 centimes, 1 franc, and 2 francs denominations.

These coins are made of silver, with content as follows:

50 CENTIMES: 0.067 troy ounces silver
1 FRANC: 0.134 ounces
2 FRANCS: 0.268 ounces

The silver value can add up nicely if you have a bunch of coins.

Typical catalog values for both French and Dutch coins run like this:

50 CENTIMES
worn: $3 US dollars approximate catalog value
average circulated: $8
well preserved: $12
fully uncirculated: $50
50 centimes dated 1911 with DER BELGEN are quite common: divide these values by three
50 centimes dated 1912 are quite common: divide these values by three

1 FRANC
worn: $5 US dollars approximate catalog value
average circulated: $6
well preserved: $8
fully uncirculated: $12
1 franc dated 1910 are somewhat rare: multiply these values by three
1 franc dated 1911 with DES BELGES are slightly rare: multiply these values by two
1 franc dated 1914 with DER BELGEN and medal alignment (see below *) are rare, cataloging at $50 in well preserved condition
1 franc dated 1917 and 1918 are very rare, cataloging near $1000 in average circulated condition

2 FRANCS
worn: $8 US dollars approximate catalog value
average circulated: $10
well preserved: $20
fully uncirculated: $40

Remember that catalog values are inflated values. To convert the catalog values shown above to actual buy and sell values, consult our Terminology page.

* All these coins come with coin alignment, but a valuable variation comes with medal alignment. This has to do with the orientation of front and back relative to each other. To determine if your coin has coin or medal alignment, hold it between your thumb and forefinger, with your thumb on the bottom and your forefinger on top. Now turn the coin from left to right, like turning a page in a book. If the reverse image is up-side down, you have coin aligment. If it is right-side up, you have medal alignment. Hope you have the valuable one!
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