2 1/2 Zaïres Conservation

Descrizione del dritto	Facing three-quarter right bust of President Mobutu Sese Seko, wearing a suit and characteristic thick-framed eyeglasses. The portrait is rendered in high relief with fine detail, occupying the central field. The circular legend BANQUE DU ZAÏRE arcs along the upper periphery of the coin.
Scrittura del dritto	Latin
Legenda del dritto	Accedi per vedere i dettagli
Descrizione del rovescio	Accedi per vedere i dettagli
Scrittura del rovescio	Accedi per vedere i dettagli
Legenda del rovescio	Accedi per vedere i dettagli
Bordo	Accedi per vedere i dettagli
Zecca	Accedi per vedere i dettagli
Tiratura	Accedi per vedere i dettagli
Informazioni aggiuntive	Issued as part of a global wave of conservation-themed coinage promoted by the WWF and IUCN in the mid-1970s, this piece was never intended for circulation — it was a hard currency earner for a government badly in need of foreign exchange. Mobutu Sese Seko's Zaïre was simultaneously projecting international legitimacy through wildlife imagery while presiding over the systematic looting of the country's natural resources. The Zaïre itself as a currency unit had only been introduced in 1967, replacing the franc at a rate of one Zaïre to one thousand francs.