The Democratic Republic of the Congo has issued commemorative silver under this denomination since the late 1990s, largely as a foreign-currency revenue exercise targeting collector markets in Europe and North America rather than domestic circulation. KM#122 belongs to a wave of themed issues produced during a period when the country's actual monetary system was barely functional — the Congolese franc had been reintroduced only in 1998 after the inflationary collapse of the new zaire, and hard currency from collector sales was not trivial income for the issuing authority.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo has issued commemorative silver under this denomination since the late 1990s, largely as a foreign-currency revenue exercise targeting collector markets in Europe and North America rather than domestic circulation. KM#122 belongs to a wave of themed issues produced during a period when the country's actual monetary system was barely functional — the Congolese franc had been reintroduced only in 1998 after the inflationary collapse of the new zaire, and hard currency from collector sales was not trivial income for the issuing authority.