About 16 billion Belgian francs, a currency out of circulation since the change to the Euro in 2002, are still unaccounted for. That’s about €400 million waiting to be exchanged and spent.
Of the 273.8 million bills that were in circulation in 2002, some 15 million, or 5.5%, have not been turned in. National Bank of Belgium officials say they have no way of knowing how many are being hoarded, and how many have been lost or destroyed.
Not surprisingly, the largest number of not-exchanged notes are small ones of 100 and 200 franc denominations; over 10% of those are still out there, while fewer than 1% of the 10,000-franc notes are in the wild.
Exchange is still possible for all bills issued between 1944 and 2001, except for 20- and 50-franc ones. Coins are also no longer exchangeable.
