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Hello! This is to let editors know that the featured picture File:Belgium 1835 40 Francs.jpg, which is used in this article, has been selected as the English Wikipedia's picture of the day (POTD) for July 27, 2020. A preview of the POTD is displayed below and can be edited at Template:POTD/2020-07-27. Any improvements or maintenance to this article should be made before its scheduled appearance on the Main Page. If you have any concerns, please place a message at Wikipedia talk:Picture of the day. Thank you! Cwmhiraeth (talk) 10:59, 7 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Belgian franc

The Belgian franc was the currency of the Kingdom of Belgium from 1832 until 2002, when the euro was introduced. The Belgian mint was innovative, and in 1860, the country became the first to introduce coins made of cupronickel. A few years later, in 1865, Belgium formed the Latin Monetary Union with France, Switzerland and Italy (Greece joined the system later), which facilitated trade between the countries by setting standards by which gold and silver currency could be minted and exchanged.

This 40-franc gold coin was minted in 1835, and depicts Leopold I, the first king of the Belgians following the country's independence in 1830, on the obverse. The coin is now part of the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History.

Coin design credit: Kingdom of Belgium; photographed by the National Numismatic Collection

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King of Belgium?

I know it is being technical, but there has never existed a King of Belgium. The Monarch is styled as King/Queen of the Belgians. Can we just say that the rest of this article has to resemble that detail?--85.165.190.29 (talk) 10:24, 7 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

While I see you're correct that the style is "King (or Queen) of the Belgians", the only appearances of "of Belgium" following "king" or "queen" in the article include the monarch's or queen consort's name: "King Baudouin of Belgium". The distinction is consistent with the usage in the articles on each of those articles, including the ones that have "of Belgium" in their titles:
  • Queen Paola of Belgium: "Queen Paola of Belgium ... was Queen of the Belgians from 1993 to 2013 as the wife of the former King Albert II."
  • Albert II of Belgium: "Albert II ... was King of the Belgians from 1993 to 2013."
  • Queen Fabiola of Belgium: "Doña Fabiola de Mora y Aragón ... was Queen of the Belgians from her marriage to King Baudouin in 1960 until his death in 1993."
And there's no doubt that they are of Belgium. Even if not an official styling, it's correct in ordinary English usage and in substance. After all, if we insist that they're the monarchs of the Belgians but not of Belgium, then that makes Belgium a republic, doesn't it? Albeit a republic populated predominately by a people deemed the subjects of a monarch. I think that that's where being technical about it would take us. Largoplazo (talk) 11:28, 7 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]