100 Francs

The État Indépendant du Congo — Leopold II's personal fiefdom rather than a Belgian colonial possession — issued this note at a moment when the territory's finances were being organized to extract maximum revenue from rubber and ivory. Waterlow & Sons in London produced the plates, a common arrangement for newly constituted issuing authorities that lacked domestic printing infrastructure and needed paper instruments with enough sophistication to discourage forgery.

The 1896 series, Pick 1 and 2, represents the earliest paper money issued under Leopold's direct administration. The Congo Free State was formally dissolved in 1908 when international outcry over atrocities forced transfer to Belgian state control, after which this currency was retired.