1 Franc Trial

Trial strikes for the Banque Centrale du Congo Belge et du Ruanda-Urundi were produced in the mid-1950s as Belgium began consolidating the monetary administration of its central African territories under a single institution. The 1957 aluminium essai for the 1-franc denomination was part of that transitional testing process — the bank itself had only been established in 1952, replacing the dual-issuing arrangement that had existed since the 1920s.

KM#E5 is catalogued as an essai, meaning it was struck for approval rather than circulation. Aluminium was the intended production metal, so this trial represents a composition test rather than an experimental alternative.