National Bank still missing €151m worth of old Belgian francs

Last year, 69,282 old Belgian franc notes were exchanged for euros. Since the introduction of the euro in 2002, Belgians have exchanged their old Belgian francs for new euro banknotes, but there is another €151 million worth of francs still outstanding, writes De Standaard, based on figures from the National Bank of Belgium.

Every year, less and less franc notes are brought in for exchange, including nearly 73,000 in 2014, compared to 88,000 in 2013. Another 15,158,514 franc notes are still in circulation, worth a total of nearly €151 million.

The exchange of old Belgian franc coins was only possible until 2004, but the National Bank still hopes to recover more banknotes. The 100 Belgian franc note is the most unreturned, with more than 9.6 million units missing, or 11.75% of the notes still in circulation at the end of 2001.

Belgians last year exchanged 3,784 bills of 10,000 francs, but there are still 134,763 of the bills in circulation.