Word: belgae
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Something which never really existed was formally ordered out of existence last week. In 1926 Belgium wanted to protect the Belgian franc from the skidding of the French franc (the two currencies had long been interchangeable). So Belgium established the belga, worth five francs...
...nobody took to the belga. No belga was ever minted. To travelers, Belgium's currency was still the franc. Last week the Belgian Government finally gave up. From now on, it will officially call its unit of foreign exchange the franc. The Belgian franc no longer needs protection. It is quoted at 2.3 U.S. cents, v. .8? for the French franc...
...central banking (TIME, April 8, 1935). Professor van Zeeland was brought in as a compromise coalition Premier chiefly because King Albert had repeatedly brought him in as an economic counselor whose services previous Belgian Cabinets had found effective, disinterested. Under his expert management as Premier the devaluation of the belga-made inevitable by the devaluation of the currencies of the Great Powers -was carried through with skill and success in sharp contrast to the awful bungling at Paris of the devaluation of the franc (TIME...
...Emile Francqui, 72, Belgium's richest man and No. 1 hard money expert; in Brussels. A burly, morose and solitary man. Francqui put aside his gifted money-making (banks, copper) whenever Belgium reached a financial crisis, twice devalued the Belgian franc, invented the foreign exchange medium of the belga (five Belgian francs). Europe called him "The Mystery Man," and "The Copper King of the Congo," where as a young captain he saved for Belgium from the British the territory in which one of the world's richest copper mines, Katanga, was later discovered...
...French Chamber Finance Committee last week Premier Flandin fought a sharp verbal duel with the No.1 French devaluationist, M. Paul Reynaud, who crowed: "I point to devaluation of the belga as evidence of the soundness of my position. It indicates that the gold bloc countries cannot go on indefinitely handicapping themselves in trade. This morning in Paris I can buy for 92 francs Belgian goods that cost 120 francs before the belga was devalued...