5 Francs Spain - Queen Letizia and Infanta Sofia

This is one of several foreign-royalty themed issues produced for the Democratic Republic of Congo in the late 1990s — a period when the newly renamed state (formerly Zaire) was contracting with European minting houses for novelty coinage with little connection to Congolese history or monetary need. Queen Letizia was not yet queen in 1999; she was Letizia Ortiz, a television journalist, and would not marry Crown Prince Felipe until 2004. The coin's subject matter was therefore entirely speculative at the time of issue.