1000 Nouveaux Zaïres Portuguese Caravel

By 1997, the Zaïrian state was functionally over. Mobutu Sese Seko's government had lost control of the eastern provinces to Laurent-Désiré Kabila's advancing forces, and the treasury was issuing collector coins denominated in a currency — the nouveau zaïre — that had already collapsed into near-worthlessness through hyperinflation. This piece belongs to a wave of late-Mobutu-era silver issues sold entirely to foreign numismatic distributors, generating hard currency the regime could no longer extract through any legitimate means.

The country was renamed the Democratic Republic of the Congo within months of this coin's issue date.