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5 Francs Belgium - Queen Paola
| Issuer | Banque Centrale du Congo |
|---|---|
| Year | 1999 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Milled, Colored |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse displays a full-color photographic portrait of Queen Paola of Belgium facing slightly left, set within a circular colored insert against a pale blue background. To the left of the portrait appears a gold royal crown, and to the right a heraldic shield bearing a rampant lion in gold on a black field, representing the Belgian coat of arms. The legend LA REINE DES BELGES is inscribed above the portrait within the colored field, and PAOLA 1937 appears below, denoting her birth year. The wide outer border carries the series inscription MAISONS ROYALES D'EUROPE DES SIECLES DERNIERS running around the full circumference. |
| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
This piece was issued by the Banque Centrale du Congo during one of the most chaotic periods in the country's modern history — the Second Congo War had begun in August 1998, eventually drawing in nine African nations and leaving millions dead. That a functioning central bank was producing commemorative-grade coinage at this moment says something about the disconnect between official monetary institutions and the economic reality on the ground, where hard currency of any kind was largely absent from daily commerce.
Queen Paola of Belgium's appearance on a Congolese franc issue reflects the collector-market licensing arrangements that characterized many Central African monetary authorities in the 1990s, not any political relationship with the Belgian crown.