Description : Henry Dunant, a Swiss businessman, witnessed the Battle of
Solferino on the 24th of June 1859, during which some 6,000 soldiers were killed and 25,000 wounded in a single
day. The totally inadequate medical care for the wounded so horrified him that he devoted himself to organising relief
efforts. His memoirs, published in book form in 1862, led to the founding of the "Committee of Relief Societies for the
Care of the Wounded" in 1863, which has been called the "International Committee of the Red Cross" since 1876. On the
4th of February 1864, a Relief Committee for Wounded Soldiers was founded in Brussels, and on the 22nd of
August 1864, Belgium and 12 other states signed the first Geneva Convention, which enshrined in international law the
protective provisions suggested by Henry Dunant. In the shape of a cross around the number "150" is written "CROIX ROUGE"
and "RODE KRUIS" (Red Cross in French and Dutch respectively). At the bottom left is the country abbreviation "BE" (Belgium),
at the right the year of issue "2014", at the top left the helmeted head of the Archangel Michael the mint mark of the Royal
Belgian mint Monnaie Royale de Belgique / Koninklijke Munt van België / Königliche Belgische
Münzprägeanstalt in Brussels, and at the right a cat the logo of the mint master Bernard Gillard's. There
are specimens of the coin designed by Luc Luycx that show the Roman mint's ( ) or
the Dutch version (GOD ⋆ ZIJ ⋆ MET ⋆ ONS ⋆) instead of the normal
Belgian edge inscription ( ). |
