5 Francs Butterfly Fish

The Democratic Republic of Congo issued a long run of novelty coinage in the early 2000s primarily for the collector market, with virtually no intention of these pieces entering domestic circulation. The country was still emerging from the Second Congo War — formally ended in 2003 — and its monetary infrastructure was nowhere near equipped to distribute commemorative copper-nickel pieces to a population largely transacting in worn banknotes and foreign currency.

KM#179 is one of several fish-themed issues from this period, a series that sold through international distributors with Congo's name lending exotic appeal to what were essentially bullion-adjacent novelties.