10 Francs Long jump

The Democratic Republic of the Congo relaunched its coinage identity in 1997 following the fall of Mobutu Sese Seko and the renaming of the country from Zaire. This piece belongs to the early wave of commemorative silver issues produced under the new state, most of which were struck by European mints for the international collector market rather than for any domestic circulation purpose — the country's monetary infrastructure was in no condition to support a domestic commemorative program in 2000.

The Sydney Olympics provided the theme. Long jump had not featured so prominently on African commemorative coinage since the 1980 Moscow Games issues.