The Kingdom of Belgium was established following the Belgian Revolution in 1830 and the Kingdom adopted the franc as its currency in 1832. Throughout the 1830s and 1840s early Belgian banknotes were produced by national and regional banks. The National Bank of Belgium was established in 1850 and began issuing paper money the next year in 1851. Occupation by Germany during the first and second World Wars disrupted paper money production and resulted in a number of occupation, provisional and emergency money issuances. In 2002 Belgium converted to the euro and the franc effectively ceased to exist.
