5 cent of Albert I, 1915-1916

For this period in general, not for this coin in particular.

In Brussels building workers earned 1.00 franc an hour (unskilled) and 1.18 francs (skilled) in 1919, 160 and 130 per cent more than in 1914. In 1939 hourly wages in Brussels building were about 60 per cent above 1914. A 25-centime piece was therefore in 1919 a quarter of an unskilled building worker's hourly pay. Indicative: one trade in one city, and prices rose sharply in the same years.

Confidence: medium

Sources:

• Peter Scholliers, Loonontwikkeling, conjunctuur en arbeidsverhoudingen in het bouwvak in Brussel en Parijs, 1855-1940 · Belgisch Tijdschrift voor Nieuwste Geschiedenis 21 (1990), 1-2, pp. 1-47. Wages 1919 and the 1914-1939 trend.