Catalog
2 Francs - Léopold II
| Issuer | Congo Free State (1885-1908) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1887-1896 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Orientation | Coin alignment ↑↓ |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | The arms of the Congo Free State — a shield bearing a horizontal-banded field with an inescutcheon charged with the Belgian lion rampant, and a five-pointed star in the upper sinister canton — are surmounted by a royal crown and flanked symmetrically by two palm fronds tied at the base, forming a wreath. The denomination '2 FRANCS' appears in the upper field to either side of the crown, and the date is placed in the exergue below the wreath. |
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| Additional information |
The Congo Free State was not a nation in any conventional sense — it was the personal property of King Léopold II of Belgium, administered as a private commercial enterprise and never under Belgian state authority until the forced handover of 1908. The silver coinage issued under this arrangement was among the few material signals that Léopold was projecting sovereign ambitions onto territory his agents were simultaneously depopulating through forced rubber quotas and systematic mutilation.
Struck at the Brussels mint, these pieces saw minimal genuine circulation in the Congo itself, where the actual economy ran on brass rods and trade goods.