1953, 10 September, King Baudouin Belgium Type “Marchand” Carmine Belgium 2 francs

1953, King Baudouin Belgium 

King Baudouin Belgium Type “Marchand” Carmine Belgium 2  francs 10 September 1953

Text:  Belgie Belgieque 2  francs 

Condition: Ø = used/cancelled

Title:   King Baudouin (Marchand)

Face value:     2

Country/area:            Belgium

Year:   1953

Set:     1953 King Baudouin

Stamp number in set:           1

Basic colour:  Red

Exact colour:  Carmine

Usage:            Franking

Type:   Stamp

Theme:           Kings, Heads of State, Uniforms, Monarchs/Royalty

Geographical themes:            

Person themes:         Baudouin of Belgium (1930-1993)

Perforation:    K 11½

Watermark:   Without watermark

Dimensions:   28 x 24 mm

Luminescence:          None

Printing:         Photogravure

Designer:        Marchand, Robert

Gum:  Gum Arabic

Michel number:         974

Yvert number:           925

Scott number:            452

Stanley Gibbons number:     1454

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10 September 1953 King Baudouin Type “Marchand” -  1.50,  2 and 4 francs. 1 October 1957 2.50 and 5 francs. 2, 3, 3.50, 6, 6.50, 7, 7.50, 8, 8.50, 9 and 30 francs. 3 francs also used in coils. 4,50 francs. 3,50 francs. March 1966 12 francs. Some stamps subsequently used in booklets. 7 December 1970 design modified 2.50 and 7 francs. 8 November 1972 design modified 4,50 francs.

Baudouin (Dutch: Boudewijn Albert Karel Leopold Axel Marie Gustaaf van België [ˈbʌu̯dəˌʋɛi̯n ˈɑlbərt ˈkaːrəl ˈleˑjoˑˌpɔlt ˈɑksəl maˑˈri ɣʏsˈtaˑf vɑn ˈbɛlɣijə], French: Baudouin Albert Charles Léopold Axel Marie Gustave de Belgique [bodwɛ̃ albɛʁ ʃaʁl leopɔld aksɛl maʁi ɡystav də bɛlʒik]; 7 September 1930 – 31 July 1993) reigned as King of the Belgians, following his father's abdication, from 1951 until his death in 1993. He was the eldest son of King Leopold III (1901–83) and his first wife, Princess Astrid of Sweden (1905–35). Having had no children, the crown passed on to his brother,Albert II of Belgium, following his death. He is the first cousin of King Harald V of Norway, Princess Astrid of Norway, and Princess Ragnhild of Norway. Baudouin is the French form of his name, the form most commonly used outside Belgium; his Dutch name is Boudewijn. Very rarely, his name is anglicized as Baldwin.

Ascent to the throne

Baudouin was born in Stuyvenberg Castle, near Laeken, Brussels, in Belgium, in 1930, the son of Prince Leopold, the Duke of Brabant and his wife,Astrid of Sweden. His father became King of the Belgians, as Leopold III, in 1934. Baudouin's mother died in 1935.

Part of Leopold III's unpopularity was the result of a second marriage in 1941 to Mary Lilian Baels, an English-born Belgian commoner, later known as Princess de Réthy. More controversial had been Leopold's decision to surrender to Nazi Germany during World War II, when Belgium was invaded in 1940; many Belgians questioned his loyalties, but a commission of inquiry exonerated him of treason after World War II. Though reinstated in a plebiscite, the controversy surrounding Leopold led to his abdication.

King Leopold III requested the Belgian Government and the Parliament to approve a law delegating his royal powers to his son, Prince Baudouin, who took the constitutional oath before the United Chambers of the Belgian Parliament as Prince Royal on 11 August 1950. He ascended the throne and became the fifth King of the Belgians upon taking the constitutional oath on 17 July 1951, one day following his father's abdication.

The Congolese called the young king Mwana Kitoko ("beautiful boy").