1 Franc

Katanga's secession from the newly independent Republic of Congo lasted from July 1960 until January 1963, backed financially by the Union Minière du Haut-Katanga, the Belgian mining conglomerate that controlled the region's vast copper and cobalt reserves. This coin was struck in 1961 — the only year of issue — while United Nations forces were actively working to end the breakaway state. The Banque Nationale du Katanga issued just three denominations before the secession collapsed, making the complete set genuinely compact.