Belgian Franc - Linguistics

Linguistics

Initially, the currency was monolingual in French. However, Dutch language coins were introduced from 1869. Some later coins featured inscriptions in both languages. 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. Banknotes became bilingual in the 1880s and, from 1992, banknotes were introduced which were trilingual, with either French or Dutch on the obverse and German and the remaining language on the reverse. Some commemorative coins were issued with German inscriptions but none for circulation.