20 and 50 centimes type miner

[Geert]

 

hebben jullie enig idee waarom er bij de 20 en 50 centimes mijnwerker nooit het nederlandse woord CENTIEMEN staat?
en altyd CENTIMES ook bij de munten met Vlaams opschrift BELGIE

do you have some idea why there at 20 and 50 centimes miner never stands the Dutch word CENTIEMEN ?
and always CENTIMES also at the currencies with Flemish heading BELGIUM

[Geert]

on the 2 centiemen by King Leopold II are the words on French (CENT.^S) and Flemish (CENT.^N)

     

On the coins 5 - 10 centiemen by King albert I the used another abbreviations (afkortingen) French (C.^ES) and Flemish (C.^EN)

     

and so going on ....

[arneman]

I never really noticed that, thanks for pointing it out

[Figleaf]

It looks like an oversight, not a plot to me, Arne. Now that you have mentioned this type, KM lists two subtypes of the 20, Flemish version, one with the word CENTIMES touching the rim and one with the word away from the rim. I don't have the variety with CENTIMES touching the rim (KM 147.2), but I assume it exists (see your picture of the 1954 20 centiemen) and it may be a clue.

Obviously, CENTIEMEN is a slightly longer word than CENTIMES, so the size of the letters would have had to be slightly smaller to provide the extra space. The mint may have been experimenting with this, producing the die with the word not touching the rim in the Flemish version (in the French version, the word normally touches the rim), leaving place for the extra letter. I suspect that all the experiments were carried out bij Walloons, who never noticed the word had yet to change. When nobody commented when the coins came out, the Mint decided to save face and cost and leave things as they were.

Peter

[bart]

I also want to state that "CENTIMES" is as right in Dutch as is "CENTIEMEN".
The most used Dutch dictionary "Van Dale" states that both words are normal Dutch words and it is correct to use both.

Bart

[Figleaf]

Inneresting, Bart. Does Van Dale also mention Franc as equivalent of Frank?

Peter

[Geert]

i have search on google

http://www.vandale.nl/vandale/opzoeken/woordenboek/?zoekwoord=cent

[Figleaf]

Thanks, Geert. Now I can answer my own question. Franc is not recognized as a Dutch word. That means KM is wrong, labelling all Belgian coins in Franc and centimes. While centimes is defensible, as Bart says, Franc isn't.

Peter

[chrisild]

That means KM is wrong, labelling all Belgian coins in Franc and centimes.

Hmm, when did they start doing that? My KM catalog is a little older (2004) but usually says "Francs" and "Frank", and so does the Sch?n (2007) world catalog.

Christian

[JeanPar]

Hmm, when did they start doing that? My KM catalog is a little older (2004) but usually says "Francs" and "Frank", and so does the Sch?n (2007) world catalog.

Christian

My 2005 KM says "Franc" and (between brackets) "Frank" for all coins except the coins of 1 franc.  Flemish or French, it does not matter, all is "Franc"  in the KM of 2005   

[Geert]

My 2005 KM says "Franc" and (between brackets) "Frank" for all coins except the coins of 1 franc.  Flemish or French, it does not matter, all is "Franc" 

gezocht naar Franc

Frank (munteenheid) (Doorverwezen vanaf Franc)

[chrisild]

Ah, so maybe "franc" is the common English spelling, just as the Dutch Wikipedia spells all those currencies "frank" (even the French fran_) ...

And no, I won't even ask whether "Flemish" also refers to the language As far as I know, the Belgian government usually says "Nederlands" and "Fran?ais", despite some vocabulary differences.

Christian