Catalog
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| Issuer | Banque Centrale du Congo |
|---|---|
| Year | 2009 |
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| Orientation | Medal alignment ↑↑ |
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| Reverse description | A full-color reproduction of Pierre-Auguste Renoir's Impressionist painting 'Nude in the Sun' (1875) is centrally depicted, rendered in polychrome enamel and set within an ornate decorative frame. The painting presents a female nude figure dappled with sunlight filtering through foliage, characteristic of Renoir's plein-air Impressionist technique. The elaborate frame features foliate and geometric ornamental motifs, enhancing the presentation of the artwork. |
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| Edge | Reeded |
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| Additional information |
The Democratic Republic of Congo has issued collector coins under the "Famous Paintings" series since the 2000s, licensing reproductions of canonical Western artworks — an unusual arrangement for a central bank whose domestic currency, the Congolese franc, was itself recovering from catastrophic hyperinflation that had destroyed three prior currency regimes since independence. The Renoir original, Nude in the Sun, dates to 1875 and caused a minor scandal at the Impressionist exhibition that year.
Silver-plated copper rather than solid silver keeps production costs low enough to make these viable as mass-market numismatic novelties. The plating on this series is thin and notoriously prone to wear at the highest relief points.