10 Francs European Union

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has operated one of the more prolific novelty coinage programs of any African nation, issuing silver pieces throughout the early 2000s almost exclusively for the collector export market rather than domestic circulation. This 2003 EU issue belongs to a wave of Congolese commemoratives timed to the euro's physical introduction in January 2002, capitalizing on collector interest in European monetary unification while the DRC itself was mid-civil war — the Second Congo War would not formally end until later that year.