5 Zaïres

The Banque du Zaïre was established in 1971 following Mobutu Sese Seko's renaming of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and this 1972 issue belongs to the first full series printed under the new national identity. Giesecke & Devrient in Munich handled the entire early Zaïre series, a relationship that continued well into the inflationary collapse of later decades.

The zaïre itself was introduced in 1967 at a rate of 1 zaïre to 1,000 old francs — briefly a credible currency before chronic mismanagement eroded it beyond recovery.