Catalog
50 Francs
| Issuer | Banque Nationale du Congo |
|---|---|
| Year | 1961-1962 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Franc (1960-1967) |
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| Obverse description | Multicolour note in green and orange tones, with an intaglio vignette of a seated lion on a rocky outcrop at centre left, set against a panoramic landscape with a bridge spanning a river gorge and an industrial facility at centre right. Denomination numerals '50' appear in diamond-shaped guilloche cartouches at left and right, with a colourful geometric underprint border along the lower margin. The date, serial number, issuer title, and Governor's signature appear within their respective fields. |
|---|---|
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| Protection type | Watermark |
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| Comments |
The Banque Nationale du Congo was established in 1951 under Belgian colonial administration, but the notes bearing its name in this series were issued after independence in June 1960 — a deliberate continuity measure while the new state scrambled to build functional institutions amid the political catastrophe of the Congo Crisis. Bradbury Wilkinson had long-standing relationships with colonial currency authorities across Africa and were a natural choice for a government that had inherited rather than built its banking infrastructure.
Signature 1 on this series corresponds to the earliest post-independence signing authority. The brief 1961–1962 issue window reflects how quickly the Banque Nationale du Congo was superseded by the Banque Nationale de la République du Congo.