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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 |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| 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 | The Dutch-language reverse is printed in dark blue intaglio on a dense guilloche underprint with foliate corner ornaments. A central oval vignette encloses a scene of an elephant and a lion in a jungle landscape. The denomination "VIJF FRANK" appears in a cartouche below the vignette, with the payable location "ELISABETHVILLE" in large lettering beneath, and the printer's imprint "WATERLOW & SONS LIMITED, LONDRES" in small text at the very bottom. |
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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.