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500 Francs

Issuer Banque Centrale du Congo Belge et du Ruanda-Urundi
Year 1953-1955
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Currency Franc (1960-1967)
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Obverse lettering BANQUE CENTRALE DU CONGO BELGE ET DU RUANDA-URUNDI
CINQ CENTS FRANCS
PAYABLES À VUE
LE PREMIER-DIRECTEUR
LE GOUVERNEUR
LE CONTREFACTEUR EST PUNI DE SERVITUDE PÉNALE
BRADBURY, WILKINSON & C° L° NEW MALDEN, SURREY, ENGLAND
(Translation: CENTRAL BANK OF BELGIAN CONGO AND RUANDA-URUNDI / FIVE HUNDRED FRANCS / PAYABLE AT SIGHT / THE FIRST DIRECTOR / THE GOVERNOR / THE COUNTERFEITER IS PUNISHED BY PENAL SERVITUDE / BRADBURY, WILKINSON & CO. LTD, NEW MALDEN, SURREY, ENGLAND)
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Protection description Lion's head watermark
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The Banque Centrale du Congo Belge et du Ruanda-Urundi was itself a short-lived institution — created in 1952 to replace the Banque du Congo Belge, it was dissolved in 1960 when Congolese independence forced a rapid restructuring of the entire colonial currency apparatus. This 500 Franc note falls squarely in the middle of that brief operational window, a high denomination issued for a territory whose monetary administration Brussels was already quietly reconsidering.

Bradbury, Wilkinson's involvement is unsurprising — the New Malden firm printed for numerous colonial issuers across this period and had long-standing relationships with Belgian authorities.