Catalog
5 Francs
| Issuer | Banque du Congo Belge |
|---|---|
| Year | 1914-1924 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 5 Francs |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | The French-language face bears the bank name at top and the date of issue in the upper right. The serial number appears to the left of the denomination, with the anti-counterfeiting warning legend in the lower portion. The printer's imprint is centered at the bottom. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Bank van Belgisch Congo Vijf Frank Betaalbaar op Zicht te Elisabethville De Namaker Wordt Door de Wet Met Dwangarbeid Gestraft (Translation: Bank of the Belgian Congo Five Francs Payable on sight in Elisabethville The punishment for counterfeiting is forced labor) |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The Banque du Congo Belge was established in 1909 to take over note-issuing functions from the Congo Free State's discredited financial apparatus — itself a tool of Leopold II's extraction economy. This 5 Francs note, printed by Waterlow & Sons in London, circulated through a colony whose monetary infrastructure was still being built from scratch. The date range spans the entirety of World War One, during which shipping disruptions made resupply of printed currency genuinely difficult.
Waterlow held the contract for multiple Belgian colonial issues during this period, their work identifiable by characteristic fine-line security printing.