Twenty years of Belgas

About a decade ago I spotted a Belgian share of the Walburg textile company from the city of St.-Niklaas. At first sight it looked like a rather plain certificate. But I was puzzled because it was not mentioning the familiar Belgian Franc as its currency denomination but Belgas. Thundering typhoons, what were Belgas?

Article based on The Belga Demystified, written earlier and published in

Scripophily magazine No. 81, Dec 2009

Walburg NV was a textile company from St-Niklaas

This 1/3 of a founders share from 1927 mentions a starting capital of 2 000 000 Belgas.

Notice the subtle underprint that was printed by St-Michiels Drukkerij, Ledeberg-Gent

double-click for details

A share in the Carlton affair

The Carlton Hotel, a French hotel, became recently a hot topic in several international newspapers. The case, called the Carlton affair, involved high-profile figures booking rooms with some "extras" (prostitutes). You can read all about that here and there .

Société Anonyme du Carlton
Action de 500 Francs, Lille, 1927
Printed by Lith. L. Nuez
double-click to enlarge

The hotel was built after World War I with the financial help of the British Carlton hotel group in the center of the city of Lille. During World War II it was partly destroyed. Currently the hotel counts 60 rooms and suites. The Coupole Suite, 100 sqm space, located in the dome offers a panoramic view and much more and can be seen here.

Facade of Hotel Carlton
source Wikipedia France

The facade of the hotel is also depicted in the underprint of the Carlton share.
An ordinary scan could not sufficiently reveal enough details from the subtle tinted image.
In order to bias the subject, the contrast of the original image was strongly reduced.

In 2007, the hotel became part of the Hotels & Preference hotel group and in 2010 the Carlton was used as a location for the movie Pour solde de tout compte . According to Europe1, the current scandal and its media coverage generates extra interest in the hotel.

F.L.