20 Francs Peregrine falcon, gilded

The Democratic Republic of Congo has become one of the most prolific issuers of numismatic silver in Africa, largely because the country itself has no meaningful domestic collector market — these coins are produced entirely for export to European and North American dealers. The gilded variant of this peregrine falcon issue exists as a deliberate secondary release, a practice the Banque Centrale du Congo has used repeatedly to extract additional premium from a single underlying design without commissioning new dies.

The KM#401a suffix confirms this is catalogued as a distinct type from its non-gilded counterpart.