5000 Francs

The Conseil Monétaire de la République du Congo was a transitional institution — a stopgap monetary authority established after independence in 1960 while the new nation worked toward a functioning central bank. These notes were issued during that brief window before the Banque Nationale du Congo took over, giving the series an unusually short official lifespan.

Bradbury Wilkinson's involvement was typical of the period; the New Malden firm printed for dozens of newly independent African states in the early 1960s, often working from designs commissioned under tight political deadlines. At this denomination, circulation was always limited — few ordinary transactions reached 5000 francs — which paradoxically makes heavily used examples more historically interesting than pristine ones.