A hundred years after the belga was introduced, the name returns, in pure gold. On 25 March 2026 the Royal Belgian Mint presented the Belga Gold 2026, which its own press release calls Belgium’s first official gold bullion coin. The coin has been on sale in two sizes ever since and appeared in the centenary year of the currency unit it is named after. So it is no longer brand new, but it remains a first for Belgium. Here is what it is and what it means for anyone who owns gold coins themselves.
What exactly is the Belga Gold?
The Belga Gold comes in two sizes. The large coin contains one troy ounce of pure gold, which is 31.1 grams, and has a face value of 300 euros. The small coin contains a quarter ounce, or 7.78 grams, with a face value of 75 euros. Both are struck in gold of 999.9 thousandths, the highest fineness commonly traded.
The design is by Iris Bruijns. The obverse shows a stylised iris in Art Nouveau style, as a reference to Brussels. The reverse shows a simplified Belgian lion on a shield, with the name of the country in the three national languages. The coin is struck by the Royal Dutch Mint in Houten, under licence from the Royal Belgian Mint.
Why the name belga?
The belga was introduced in 1926 as part of a monetary reform. After the First World War, Belgium was trying to bring inflation under control and to anchor the franc to gold once more. One belga was worth five francs. By naming the new bullion coin after that unit, the Mint points to trust and monetary stability, exactly what many people still look for in gold today.
Bullion coin or collector coin: the difference
A bullion coin is made to hold gold in a practical, recognisable format. Its price mainly follows the gold price. A collector or commemorative coin is about a limited mintage and a special design, and can cost more than the gold it contains. Over the past centuries Belgium did strike gold coins and medals, but never an official coin expressly intended as an investment. Think of the gold 20 franc coin of Leopold II, which circulated as money, or commemorative pieces such as the 150 years of Belgium medal.
For the gold price itself, a new coin changes little. Gold was trading at around 4,280 dollars per troy ounce on Friday 25 September, and that price is set on the world market, not by a single mint. A new bullion coin does widen the range of recognisable Belgian pieces.
Selling gold coins: what counts in the valuation
Anyone selling gold coins will find that their value depends first of all on the pure gold they contain. For a bullion coin like the Belga Gold that is simple: weight and fineness are fixed and widely known. For older coins you need to look it up. The gold 20 franc coin is 90 percent gold and contains about 5.81 grams of fine gold. On our page about gold coins you will find the weight and fineness of each coin.
Sometimes a coin is worth more than its gold, for example a rare year or an exceptionally good condition. That is the numismatic part of the value. With bullion coins this rarely plays a role, because they are made in large numbers.
A high fineness coin or bar is also treated differently from a gold ring or chain. The difference in VAT and valuation is explained on our page about investment gold and scrap gold.
Not every gold piece with a Belgian motif is a coin. Commemorative medals have no face value, but when sold they are valued just the same on the gold they contain.
VAT and capital gains tax on gold coins
Gold bullion coins that meet the European conditions for investment gold are exempt from VAT in Belgium. Since 1 January 2026, however, a 10 percent capital gains tax applies to financial assets, investment gold included, with an exemption of up to 10,000 euros. How that works when selling gold coins is explained on our page about capital gains tax on gold.
What the Belga Gold means for coin owners
For anyone with gold coins in a drawer, the new coin changes nothing about the value of those pieces. That still depends on the gold weight, the fineness and the current price. What the Belga Gold does show is that gold in Belgium has its own official face again. It also makes clear how a bullion coin works: a fixed weight, a fixed fineness and a price that follows the gold price. Anyone who sells such a coin one day knows in advance what its value is based on. The Royal Belgian Mint also advises always keeping the proof of purchase and proof of payment together with the coin. That way you can show where it came from when you sell it later. The same advice applies to any investment gold.