Catalog
5 Francs - Léopold II Pattern
| Issuer | Congo Free State (1885-1908) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1896 |
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| Value | 5 Francs |
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| Obverse description | Bare-headed, bearded bust of King Léopold II facing left, rendered in high relief with finely modeled facial features including a prominent beard and strong profile. The truncation of the bust reveals the collar and upper garment. A circular legend surrounds the effigy reading LEOP. II R. D. BELG. SOUV. DE L'ÉTAT INDEP. DU CONGO, and the engraver's name FERNANDUBOIS appears at the lower rim. The portrait is executed in a naturalistic, medallic style characteristic of late 19th-century Belgian coinage artistry. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
The Congo Free State was Leopold II's personal property — not a Belgian colony, but a privately held territory answerable to one man. By 1896, the rubber extraction regime was already generating the atrocities that would eventually force international intervention, yet Leopold was simultaneously attempting to project the image of a legitimate sovereign state, complete with a proper coinage. This pattern is part of that effort.
KM#Pn20 never entered circulation. Patterns for the Congo Free State are rare precisely because so few were struck, and fewer still survived outside institutional collections.