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1 Zaïre Piefort Essai
| Issuer | Banque Nationale du Congo |
|---|---|
| Year | 1970 |
| Type | Coin pattern |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
The Banque Nationale du Congo issued this piefort essai in 1970, just a year after Mobutu Sese Seko renamed the currency from the franc to the zaïre — a rebranding inseparable from his broader campaign of "authenticité," which systematically purged colonial nomenclature from Congolese public life. Piefort essais of this type were struck in minimal quantities for archival and approval purposes, never intended for circulation.
The zaïre itself was set at parity with the US dollar at introduction, a rate that held only briefly before economic mismanagement and copper price collapses eroded it catastrophically through the 1970s.