The faces of Belgian national coins

      In 2007, the European Central Bank asked the Member States to amend the common face (or European side) of all their coins. The States concerned therefore issued a second national series.

Reminder: for Eurocol, coins prior to 2007, (1999/ 2006) are referenced coins "a". Starting in 2007, these are coins "b".

Belgium has had to modify its national faces in order to comply with the ECB’s recommendations on several occasions:

    In 2008, these changes concern the presence of a clear identification of the Country (full wording or abbreviation of this Country) and for a regular arrangement of the stars according to that of the European Flag inside the crown of the coin.

See at the bottom of the page excerpts from the Official Journal for these changes ***​ 

• The King’s monogram is inside the coin.

• The stars are arranged regularly as on the European Flag.

• Country - BE indication is worn inside the coin.

Note: this coin is referenced "b" and present in Eurocol

             In 2009, as a result of the changes made to the King’s profile in 2008, the Royal Mint had to backtrack because, in the latest changes to the Euro emission recommendations (Official Journal of the European Commission No. 2009/23/EC), it was only allowed to modify the profile of a head of state every 15 years to take into account its change in appearance. Of course the other changes (punches, vintage, ...) are always topical. Back to Albert II’s face, then.

Punches of 2009          

Note: this coin is referenced "c" and present in Eurocol

Punches of 2011

This coin was not taken into account by Eurocol, but must be included in the collection. It will now be referenced as coin "c2".

Note: this coin is referenced "c2" and present in Eurocol

Following the abdication on 21 July 2013 of King Albert II, it is the portrait of his son King Philip that now appears on Belgian coins.

Note: this coin is referenced "d" and present in Eurocol

        The Royal Mint of Belgium has a unique workshop in Brussels, without any particular brand. It is therefore natural that we find no different on the Euro series of Belgium, except the monogram of King Albert II (a crowned A of the Roman number II). However, as of the 2008 vintage for the series, two punches appear:

On the identification of the issuing Member State: The national faces of all euro coins intended for circulation should indicate the issuing Member State by mentioning its name or an abbreviation of its name.

On the drawing of national faces: The national face of euro coins intended for circulation should include the 12 European stars completely surrounding the national design, including the vintage and the name of the issuing Member State. European stars should appear as on the European flag.

On the changes to the national faces of normal euro coins intended for circulation: Drawings used for the national sides of euro coins or coins intended for circulation should not be modified, except in the case of a change in the head of state to which reference is made on a coin.However, issuing Member States should be allowed to update the drawing of euro coins representing the head of state every 15 years in order to take account of the change in his image.