Flag of Luxembourg. It is often confused with the flag of The Netherlands but that one has a darker blue.
History
Luxembourg is located on the border between Germanic and Romance languages, and saw its history dominated by the competing powers of France and Germany.
Early history (963-1482)
The County of Luxembourg was founded in 963, when Count Siegfried, originally from neighbouring Lorraine, acquired the rock on which he would build a fortress named Lucilinburhuc. The county was elevated to a duchy in 1353 and was as such a state of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1411 the duchy was transferred to Elisabeth of Görlitz because duke Sigismund defaulted on a loan (a medieval example of a foreclosure). She sold it to Duke of Burgundy Philip the Good in 1443, making Luxembourg part of the Burgundian Netherlands.
Habsburg rule (1482-1795)
In 1482 the Burgundian Netherlands became the Habsburg Netherlands, after the young Burgundian heiress Mary married Archduke Maximilian I. The Dutch (the northern part of the Habsburg Netherlands) started revolting in 1568 and declared independence in 1581, leaving present-day Belgium and Luxembourg still part of the Spanish Netherlands. The War of the Spanish Succession (1700-1714) brought the territory under Austrian rule, which would last until the French invasion and revolutionary wars of 1795.
French and Dutch possession (1795-1839)
Luxembourg became part of the French First Republic and was organised as the department of Forêts, named after the forests of the Ardennes (the French Revolutionaries deliberately deleted references to historical regions in all their territories to create a new sense of unity). After Napoleon's defeat Luxembourg was re-established in 1815, now as a Grand Duchy, within the United Kingdom of the Netherlands with King William I of the House of Orange-Nassau as its first Grand Duke. The Belgian Revolt of 1830 was supported by a majority of the French-speaking Luxembourgers in its western territories. The Treaty of London allowed the annexation of western Luxembourg as a Belgian province, and the eastern part remained became a neutral and independent country, affirmed in 1839.
Luxembourg's territory was around 4 times larger than it currently is due to annexations by neighbouring countries between 1659 and 1839. The partitions did not always follow linguistic lines. Luxembourgish is spoken in adjacent territories of Belgium and France and forms a dialect continuum with German, although most Germans from other regions have difficulty understanding it. Although Luxembourgish is the country's official language, it is mostly spoken but not much written. The use of French prevails in higher social circles and official texts.
Modern history (1839-date)
Luxembourg joined the German Confederation while at the same time being an independent state in personal union with the Netherlands. The tiny country's status remained a sensitive issue in Franco-Prussian relations, resulting in a crisis that almost led to war in 1867. Luxembourg's city walls were taken down and the Prussian troops that had guarded it since independence withdrew. France and Prussia would still go to war over Alsace three years later, but Luxembourg would not be involved.
When King and Grand Duke William III died without a male heir in 1890, his daughter Wilhelmina did not succeed her as Grand Duchess, but instead the title went to Adolphe of the Nassau-Weilburg line. But when his son William IV passed away in 1912 leaving six daughters, the law was quickly changed and the title passed to the eldest Marie-Adelheid.
The German Empire occupied Luxembourg during World War I. Grand Duchess Marie-Adelheid remained friendly with the German officials, which enraged the population and eventually forced her to abdicate after the war in 1919. She was succeeded by her sister Charlotte, whose successful long reign restored confidence in the monarchy.
During the Second World War Luxembourg was again occupied by Germany, and even annexed in 1942. The Germans forced conscription and war contribution on its new citizens. The Luxembourgers protested through countrywide strikes which were suppressed aggressively by the occupiers. Luxembourg was liberated by Allied troops in September 1944, but the north part of the country was occupied again until January 1945 as a result of the Ardennes Offensive.
Directly after the Second World War Luxembourg formed a customs and economic union with Belgium and The Netherlands named BeNeLux. Because of its many endurances of Franco-German rivalry Luxembourg has always been a big proponent of European integration, being one of the six founding members of (a precursor of) the EU in 1957. Next to Brussels and Strasbourg, Luxembourg is one the three unofficial European capitals and hosts a number of European institutions.
Luxembourg's economy was greatly boosted from the 1960's by offering competitive tax rates for corporations and financial institutions, and as a result it developed from a stagnating coal and steel economy into the most prosperous country in the EU. However in recent years, calls for tax harmonisation in Europe and criticism by more indebted neighbouring states could endanger Luxembourg's tax haven status.
Currency
Luxembourg's monetary history follows a mix between the Holy Roman Empire's Thalers and French Livre. In the 18th century, the Luxembourgish Livre was subdivided by 20 Sols, each of 4 Liards. The Kronenthaler, which was used across the Austrian Netherlands, was worth 54 Sols, although other values are cited as well. The French Franc succeeded these currencies in 1795.
From 1815 the Dutch Gulden was introduced. Dutch silver and gold coins had the abbreviation G.H.V.L added to the monarch until 1890, which stands for Grand Duke of Luxembourg. This ended when the personal union ended following the death of William III.
After independence Luxembourg used a mix of Dutch, Belgian, French and German coinage. The French and Belgian Francs followed the same standards (and formed the LMU in 1865) and Luxembourg followed by issuing its own coins in the same currency from 1854.
The Luxembourg Franc remained tied to the Belgian one until 1935. After World War 1 it was devalued from 25/£ to 175/£. In 1935 Belgium devalued by another 28%, but Luxembourg chose to repeg at 1.25 Belgian Francs for a Luxembourgish one.
During World War 2 the Germans replaced the Franc with the Reichsmark at a rate of 10 to 1, but after the liberation the monetary union with Belgium was restored, once again at par. The Luxembourg Franc was pegged at 50Fr/$ under Bretton-Woods which held until 1971. Belgian and Luxembourgish coins and banknotes were legal tender in each other's territories but in practice many Belgians refused Luxembourgish money. In Luxembourg both Francs were very common.
After 1971 the Belgian Franc started floating and fell from 12.50/DM to arounf 20/DM in 1982, due to deplorable public finances in Belgium. It joined the ERM soon after, which tied it to the Deutschmark. In 1999 both the Belgian and Luxembourgish Francs were replaced by the Euro at a rate of 40.3399 Francs/€.
The first Luxembourgish Euro coins were minted at The Royal Dutch Mint in Utrecht in 2000 but were dated 2002 because of the planned abdication of Grand Duke Jean in favour of his son Henri. Later Euro coins were also minted at other mints and did not contain Dutch mint and privy marks.
Luxembourg:
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/luxembourg-1.html
Luxembourg as part of Spanish Netherlands:
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/spanish-netherlands-11.html#devise2530
