10 Francs Balthasar

The "Balthasar" belongs to a series of Three Kings coins issued by the Democratic Republic of Congo in the mid-2000s, a period when the country's transitional government was actively licensing foreign minting firms to produce collectible issues — revenue streams that had little to do with domestic monetary needs. These pieces were sold almost exclusively to the European commemorative coin market and never circulated.

Congo's prolific output of themed silver issues during this era drew repeated scrutiny from collectors skeptical of their legitimacy as true state coinage, though the Banque Centrale's authorization was genuine.