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5 Francs
| Issuer | Banque du Congo Belge |
|---|---|
| Year | 1914-1924 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Bank du Congo Belge Cinq Francs Payables a vue a Elizabethville La loi punit le contrefacteur des travaux forcés (Translation: Bank of the Belgian Congo Five Francs Payable on sight in Elizabethville The punishment for counterfeiting is forced labor) |
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| 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) |
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| 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.