Czeslaw Slania's Engraved Banknotes 
for Belgium

For Belgium Czeslaw Slania has engraved two banknotes: in 1992 picturing King Baudouin I and Queen Fabiola, and in 1997 picturing King Albert II and Queen Paola. Each of the banknotes are 10,000 Belgian Francs. The banknotes are no longer legal tender, as Belgium converted to Euro a few years after their release. Note that Slania has only engraved the front sides of the two notes. Click on any of the images to see the back side, (each showing a motif from the Botanical Gardens, Brussels).  

• Belgium 1992.  Front side portraying King Baudouin I and Queen Fabiola of Belgium. Pick #146. 

Baudouin is the French form of his name, which is also mostly used outside of Belgium; his Dutch name is Boudewijn. Occasionally his name is anglicized as Baldwin. Much to their regret the king and queen had no children, so at the king's death in 1993, his brother Prince Albert, accessed the Belgian throne as King of the Belgians. 

He reigned for 42 years until he died of heart failure on July 31,1993. His death was very unexpected, and sent much of Belgium into a period of deep mourning. He was interred in the royal vault at the Church of Our Lady, Laeken Cemetery, Brussels, Belgium. Baudouin was succeeded by his younger brother, who became King Albert II. 

• Belgium 1997. Front side portraying King Albert II and Queen Paola of Belgium. Pick #152. 

This couple has three children, Philippe Léopold Louis Marie (Crown Prince), princess Astrid, and Prince Laurent, and are grand-parents to numerous grandchildren. 

Sources and links:

• King Baudouin of Belgium 
• King Albert of Belgium