20 Centimes - Léopold II

Descrizione del dritto	Accedi per vedere i dettagli
Scrittura del dritto	Accedi per vedere i dettagli
Legenda del dritto	Accedi per vedere i dettagli
Descrizione del rovescio	A large, finely engraved five-pointed radiant star dominates the field, its rays composed of closely spaced incuse lines, centered on the circular hole. Three small five-pointed stars flank each side of the design in the left and right fields. The denomination '20 C.' is inscribed in the upper field above the star, and the date '1909' appears in the lower field below, all within a beaded border.
Scrittura del rovescio	Accedi per vedere i dettagli
Legenda del rovescio	20 C. 1909
Bordo	Accedi per vedere i dettagli
Zecca	Accedi per vedere i dettagli
Tiratura	Accedi per vedere i dettagli
Informazioni aggiuntive	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.