1870 Belgium 10 Francs

The 1870 Belgian 10 Francs gold coin was struck amid the chaos of the Franco-Prussian War, using gold that likely came from reserves hoarded against potential invasion.

That makes it a rare example of currency continuity in a turbulent Europe. The coin features Leopold II's portrait on the obverse and the Belgian coat of arms on the reverse, all on a 0.900 fine gold planchet weighing 3.225 grams. Designs were standardized under the Latin Monetary Union, so it circulated widely.

Mintage figures for this specific year are murky; records from the Brussels mint were spotty even then. We've got the basics down, though: it was produced at the Brussels facility, probably in limited quantities given the war's disruptions.

Some think these coins funded Belgian neutrality, but that's just speculation. As for myths, let's not pretend every piece has a battlefield story. They were money, plain and simple.