2 Centimes - Prison Hoogstraeten Merxplas ND

Reverse

Script: Latin

Lettering:
* HOOGSTRAETEN *
2
C.
MERXPLAS

Comment

Two centimes from an Agricultural Colony. These colonies were set up as poor relief in the second half of the 19th century. The tokens date from 1886; 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 centimes, 1/2 and 1 franc are known.
"With the law of 1866 on the suppression of begging and vagrancy former colonies were again considered and were, along with the establishment of Hoogstraten, under the new name of "Benevolence Farm Colonies" owned by the Belgian State (1870). Merksplas was designated the law Lejeune from 1891 as "Beggars House" and Hoogstraten Wortel as "Refuge House". Merksplas gradually gained in importance as a store house with a similar regimen as the penitentiary institutions; the number of inmates increased from 800 in 1879 to 5291 in 1911."
https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=nl&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Finventaris.onroerenderfgoed.be%2Ferfgoedobjecten%2F122153
According to "De Belgische Frank - Encyclopedie van de Belgische Staatsbetaalmiddelen" these tokens were designed by Robert Michaux, chef d'atelier of the Belgian Mint under Leopold Wiener. He was the father of Alphonse Michaux, who designed many Belgian coins.
The mintage of the 2 centimes is 64.405, struck from 1886 until 1911
(10.000 in 1886, 10.000 in 1890, 10.000 in 1892, 29.405 in 1902, 5.000 in 1911)
It was struck in brass, diameter 19 mm, weight 4 grams. They were struck at the Brussels Mint.
http://www.worldofcoins.eu/forum/index.php?topic=36012.0

Price

Date	Mintage	VG	F	VF	XF	AU	UNC
ND (1886-1911)	64405	-	-	-	-	-	-

Values in the table are based on evaluations by sales realized on Internet platforms. They serve as an indication only for 2 Centimes - Prison Hoogstraeten (Merxplas) ND (1886-1911) item.