Belgium’s silver history is defined by its role as a founding member of the Latin Monetary Union (LMU) in 1865. This agreement standardized the weight and fineness of silver coins across several European nations, making Belgian Francs interchangeable with French, Swiss, or Italian coins of the same era.
While early 19th-century Belgian silver maintained a high 90% purity, the LMU standard eventually shifted circulating denominations like the 1 and 2 Franc coins to 83.5%. Following WWII, Belgium continued to strike beautiful large-format silver coins, such as the 50 and 100 Franc "Dynasty" issues, until silver was phased out of circulation in the late 1950s.
| Coin Type | Purity | Years | ASW (oz) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 Francs (Dynasty) | 83.5% | 1948-1954 | 0.4832 |
| 50 Francs (Railway) | 68.0% | 1935 | 0.4810 |
| 50 Francs (Mercury/Fair) | 83.5% | 1948-1958 | 0.3356 |
| 50 Francs | 83.5% | 1939-1940 | 0.5369 |
| 20 Francs (Albert) | 68.0% | 1933-1934 | 0.2405 |
| 20 Francs | 83.5% | 1949-1955 | 0.2148 |
| 5 Francs | 90.0% | 1832-1876 | 0.7234 |
| 2 Francs (LMU) | 83.5% | 1866-1912 | 0.2685 |
| 1 Franc (LMU) | 83.5% | 1866-1909 | 0.1342 |
| 50 Centimes (LMU) | 83.5% | 1866-1909 | 0.0671 |
