20 Centimes - Albert I

Belgian Congo's earliest coinage was authorized under the Colonial Charter of 1908, the same instrument that transferred the territory from Leopold II's personal control to the Belgian state following international outcry over atrocities committed under his private rule. These 1910–1911 pieces were among the first coins struck explicitly for the colony under state administration, issued partly to impose monetary order on a territory that had previously relied on brass rods and other commodity currencies in interior trade networks.

Struck at the Brussels mint, the copper-nickel composition was a deliberate departure from the pure copper used in Leopold's Congo Free State issues.