Catalog
20 Centimes - Léopold II
| Issuer | Belgian Congo (1908-1960) |
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| Year | 1909 |
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| Currency | Franc (1887-1960) |
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| Obverse description | Five interlaced royal monograms of King Léopold II arranged to form a five-pointed star, centering on a circular perforation. The legend 'CONGO BELGE' appears in French and 'BELGISH-CONGO' in Dutch, running along the upper and lower periphery respectively, separated by decorative stops. A beaded border encircles the entire design. |
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| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
This coin dates to the transfer year itself — 1908 saw Belgium formally assume control of the Congo Free State from Léopold II personally, ending two decades of privately administered extraction that had killed an estimated ten million Congolese. The 1909 issue was among the first coinage struck under the new colonial administration, minted as Brussels scrambled to establish legitimate institutional infrastructure in a territory the international community had spent years condemning.
Léopold died in December 1909, making this one of very few Belgian Congo issues to bear his effigy under the colonial administration rather than his personal sovereign authority.