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500 Francs
| Issuer | Banque de la République de Katanga |
|---|---|
| Year | 1960 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 170 x 90 mm |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is dominated by an intaglio portrait of a Katangese miner wearing a hard hat with a lamp, positioned at center-left against a landscape vignette of an industrial mining scene rendered in dark brown tones. The denomination '500' appears in large numerals at lower left and upper right, with the date '01.08.60' at upper left beneath the issuer's name. Two signature lines are printed below the central vignette, captioned 'UN DIRECTEUR' and 'LE GOUVERNEUR', with a warning legend and the printer's imprint at the foot of the note. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is printed entirely in a light sepia/brown tone and consists of an elaborate symmetrical guilloche pattern at center, composed of radiating fan-like rosettes and fine lathe-work forming a decorative underprint across the full width of the note. The denomination numeral '500' appears at both left and right margins flanking the central design, with the issuer's name across the top and the denomination in words along the lower margin. |
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| Comments |
Katanga's secession from the newly independent Congo was declared on 11 July 1960, just eleven days after Congolese independence. The need for a distinct currency was immediate and politically urgent — the Banque de la République de Katanga was established almost simultaneously, and Thomas De La Rue turned these notes around fast enough to support a functioning separatist administration within the same year.
The secession lasted until January 1963, when UN pressure and military intervention forced reintegration. Notes from this issuer had a working life of roughly two years before being demonetized — a short window that kept circulated survivors relatively scarce. The unlisted Pick status reflects how recently serious cataloguing of Katangese material has accelerated.