| Opis awersu |
Portrait vignette of an African woman in three-quarter view occupies the left portion of the note, set within an ornate intaglio frame. The central field carries a large multicolour guilloche rosette over which the denomination CINQ CENTS FRANCS and PAYABLES À VUE are printed in bold letterpress, flanked by two facsimile signatures below. A panoramic river and tropical landscape scene fills the lower centre, with the denomination numeral 500 repeated in the upper-left and lower-right corners against a finely engraved purple and orange underprint. |
| Legenda awersu |
Zaloguj się aby zobaczyć szczegóły |
| Opis rewersu |
A full-body vignette of an okapi stands centrally amid a naturalistic savannah landscape, rendered in fine intaglio engraving in tones of purple and brown. Two large circular watermark windows are positioned to the left and right of the central vignette, framed by elaborate guilloche borders. The Dutch denomination VIJF HONDERD FRANK and BETAALBAAR OP ZICHT appear in bold letterpress within the right-hand circular panel, with the bank title and anti-counterfeiting warning inscribed across the upper register. |
| Legenda rewersu |
Zaloguj się aby zobaczyć szczegóły |
| Podpis(y) |
Zaloguj się aby zobaczyć szczegóły |
| Rodzaj zabezpieczeń |
Zaloguj się aby zobaczyć szczegóły |
| Opis zabezpieczeń |
Zaloguj się aby zobaczyć szczegóły |
| Warianty |
Zaloguj się aby zobaczyć szczegóły |
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.