Catalog
5 Zaïres
| Issuer | Banque du Zaïre |
|---|---|
| Year | 1979-1980 |
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| Printer | Giesecke & Devrient, Munich, Germany |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | At left, an African sculptural bust rendered in intaglio stands within a stylized figure-eight guilloche frame. The Inga hydroelectric dam complex occupies the center-right of the note, rendered in fine line engraving against a mountainous background. A large ornate numeral 5 and the word ZAIRES appear at upper right, with the BZ monogram in a lozenge cartouche at lower left and the bank title along the bottom. |
| Reverse lettering | BANQUE DU ZAÏRE ZAIRES LE CONTREFACTEUR EST PUNI DE SERVITUDE PENALE |
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| Comments |
The Banque du Zaïre replaced the Banque Nationale du Congo in 1971 as part of Mobutu Sese Seko's broader authenticity campaign — "Zaïrianisation" — which renamed the country, the currency, and ultimately pushed Belgian and European commercial interests out of the banking sector. The zaïre itself, introduced in 1967, held reasonably well through the early 1970s before inflation began its long, destructive work on the currency's purchasing power.
Giesecke & Devrient handled printing for multiple Zaïrian issues through this period, a relationship that continued even as the country's finances deteriorated sharply into the 1980s.