The Belgian franc[b] was the currency of the Kingdom of Belgium from 1832 until 2002 when the euro was introduced.

It was subdivided into 100 subunits, each known as a centiem in Dutch, or centime in French and German.

The gulden (guilder) of 20 stuivers was the currency of present-day Belgium from the 15th to 19th centuries until its replacement in 1832 by the Belgian franc.

[3] In 1865, Belgium, France, Switzerland and Italy created the Latin Monetary Union[3] (to be joined by Greece in 1868): each would possess a national currency unit (franc, lira, drachma) worth 4.5 g of silver or 290.322 mg of fine gold, all freely exchangeable at a rate of 1:1.

[3][failed verification] In 1926, Belgium, as well as France, experienced depreciation and an abrupt collapse of confidence, leading to the introduction of a new gold currency for international transactions, the Belga worth 5 francs, and the country's withdrawal from the monetary union, which ceased to exist at the end of the year.

Old franc coins and notes lost their legal tender status on 28 February 2002.

Even though it is a country with three official languages, Belgian coins usually only show both French and Flemish Dutch text, and sometimes one or the other depending on the type or time period to represent which region the coin is meant to represent.

When the two languages appeared on either side of the same face of a coin, two versions were still produced: one with Dutch to the left and French to the right, and one with the alternate arrangement.

[citation needed] In 1914, production of the 1 centime and all silver and gold coins ceased.

In 1922 and 1923, nickel 50 centime and 1 and 2 franc coins were introduced bearing the text Good For (Bon pour in French, Goed Voor in Dutch).

Despite the widely varied dates these coins were issued into circulation only a few years apart as part of a broader currency reform.

1994 saw a redesign of all denominations but the 50 centimes, with a uniform design featuring King Albert II replacing the image of Baudouin.

In 1851, the National Bank of Belgium began issuing paper money, in denominations of 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 francs.

The Société générale de Belgique issued paper money in the German-occupied areas between 1915 and 1918 in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 20, 100 and 1000 francs.

In 1927, notes were introduced by the National Bank with denominations given in both francs and belgas.

In 1944, following liberation, new banknotes were introduced (dated 1943 and printed in the United Kingdom) in denominations of 5, 10, 100, 500 and 1000 francs (1, 2, 20, 100 and 200 belgas).