Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
500 Nouveaux Zaïres Okapi
| Issuer | Banque du Zaïre |
|---|---|
| Year | 1996 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 500 Nouveaux Zaïres (500 ZRN) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Two okapis (Okapia johnstoni) are depicted in naturalistic relief at the center of the field, standing among low foliage and grasses rendered in fine detail. The larger animal faces left in profile while the smaller, presumably a juvenile, stands beside it facing the viewer in a three-quarter pose, both displaying the characteristic striped hindquarters of the species. Vegetation including ferns and ground cover frames the composition at lower right. The curved legend WILDLIFE OF AFRICA arcs along the upper periphery, while the denomination 500 and the legend NOUVEAUX ZAÏRES are inscribed in the lower field below the central design. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | WILDLIFE OF AFRICA 500 NOUVEAUX ZAÏRES |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
By 1996, the Banque du Zaïre was issuing coin series it had no realistic expectation of circulating. The country was in its final months under Mobutu Sese Seko, inflation had gutted the zaïre currency through successive redenominations — the "nouveau zaïre" itself introduced in 1993 at a rate of 3,000,000 old zaïres to one — and Laurent-Désiré Kabila's AFDL forces would take Kinshasa within a year. This piece is a collector issue produced for foreign exchange, not domestic use.
The .500 fineness is notably low for a commemorative silver, suggesting cost-cutting at the mint commissioning stage.