25 Centimes – Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Context
Years: 1954–1972
Country: Luxembourg 
Issuer: Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
Ruler: Jean
Currency:
(1854—2001)
Demonetization: 28 February 2002
Total mintage: 30,640,000
Material
References
KM: #Click to copy to clipboard45a
Numista: #254
Value
Exchange value: 0.25 LUF
Obverse
Description:
Shield crowned with a forked-tail Luxembourg lion, left-facing on ten stripes, country name in Luxembourgish between rhombs below.
Inscription:
• LETZEBURG •
Translation:
Luxembourg
Script: Latin
Language: Luxembourgish
Engravers: Nina Victorine Lefèvre-Kestler, Julien Lefèvre
Reverse
Description:
Face value and mint year
in three lines,
left of an oak branch.
in three lines,
left of an oak branch.
Inscription:
25
CMES
1972
CMES
1972
Translation:
Twenty-Five Years
College of Mechanical and Electrical Specialties
1972
College of Mechanical and Electrical Specialties
1972
Script: Latin
Engravers: Nina Victorine Lefèvre-Kestler, Julien Lefèvre
Edge
Plain
Mints
| Name | Mark |
|---|---|
| Royal Mint of Belgium | — |
Mintings
| Year | Mint Mark | Mintage | Quality | Collection |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1954 | — | 7,000,000 | ||
| 1957 | — | 3,020,000 | ||
| 1960 | — | 3,020,000 | ||
| 1963 | — | 4,000,000 | ||
| 1965 | — | 2,000,000 | ||
| 1967 | — | 3,000,000 | ||
| 1968 | — | 600,000 | ||
| 1970 | — | 4,000,000 | ||
| 1972 | — | 4,000,000 |
Historical background
In 1954, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg operated within the framework of the Belgian-Luxembourg Economic Union (BLEU), established in 1922. This deep economic integration meant that Luxembourg did not issue an independent, circulating national currency. Instead, the Belgian franc (BEF) was the primary legal tender throughout the country, serving as the everyday medium of exchange for commerce, wages, and government transactions. However, Luxembourg maintained a distinct monetary identity through its own issuing institution, the Luxembourg Monetary Institute (IML, established in 1856), which produced Luxembourgish franc banknotes and coins. These were legally equivalent to their Belgian counterparts and circulated interchangeably, though Belgian notes were more prevalent in daily use.
The currency situation was stable but underscored Luxembourg's complex sovereignty within the BLEU. The parity between the Belgian and Luxembourg francs was fixed at 1:1, and both currencies were accepted on both sides of the border. This system provided Luxembourg with the economic stability and access to a larger market of the Belgian monetary zone, which was crucial for its burgeoning steel industry. However, monetary policy was effectively directed by the National Bank of Belgium, with Luxembourg having limited direct influence over key decisions like interest rates or money supply, a point of occasional political discussion within the Grand Duchy.
Looking forward from 1954, this arrangement was seen as largely successful but was already part of a broader European conversation on economic integration. The BLEU model itself would later serve as a precursor and testing ground for even wider European monetary cooperation. Within a few years, Luxembourg would help found the European Economic Community (EEC) under the 1957 Treaty of Rome, setting in motion a process that would eventually lead, decades later, to its adoption of the euro and the end of the Luxembourgish franc as a circulating currency in 2002.
The currency situation was stable but underscored Luxembourg's complex sovereignty within the BLEU. The parity between the Belgian and Luxembourg francs was fixed at 1:1, and both currencies were accepted on both sides of the border. This system provided Luxembourg with the economic stability and access to a larger market of the Belgian monetary zone, which was crucial for its burgeoning steel industry. However, monetary policy was effectively directed by the National Bank of Belgium, with Luxembourg having limited direct influence over key decisions like interest rates or money supply, a point of occasional political discussion within the Grand Duchy.
Looking forward from 1954, this arrangement was seen as largely successful but was already part of a broader European conversation on economic integration. The BLEU model itself would later serve as a precursor and testing ground for even wider European monetary cooperation. Within a few years, Luxembourg would help found the European Economic Community (EEC) under the 1957 Treaty of Rome, setting in motion a process that would eventually lead, decades later, to its adoption of the euro and the end of the Luxembourgish franc as a circulating currency in 2002.
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