This is my example of the 1943 2 Francs...for about 4 more days, and then I'll pass it on to another collector:
What's more interesting and fun than a coin with an elephant on it? A hexagonal coin with an elephant on it.
This guy? @Siberian Man? Or is this Leopold II's father? The date appears to be 1852. (Sigh! I'm having serious issues attaching images)
The guy on that coin is Leopold The First (Léopold Premier) who was Belgium's first king. It was his son Leopold II who, until 1908, "owned" the territory - assisted by people such as Henry Morton Stanley and "legitimized" by the Congo Conference. The inscription "Roi des Belges" (King of the Belgians) hints at an issue that the Belgian kings had: They were not kings without an oath to the constitution and the parliament's approval. That still applies today, except that these days pretty much every king or queen around here is a representational figure, embedded in a democratic system. In Belgium at the times of Leopold II, not too many people - neither in parliament, nor in the general population - shared his colonial enthusiasm. His "way out" of this problem was that idea of a personal colony ... In 1908, the extremely unpopular Leopold II "sold" his colony to Belgium due to domestic and international pressure. One year later he died. Christian
There beath thee Conga Lion of which you haveth two of them in thy possession. I still have yet to obtain this "precious" coin.
Awhile ago I was browsing eBay and happened to see one for sale. I bid on it and was going to send it to you if I won, but alas, I didn't.
I too have been wanted to get one of these 1943 Belgian Congo 2 Francs. Grabbed this one on Ebay for $30. Really beautiful and fun coin.
1 franc 1949, brass, weight - 2,48 g., size - 19,2 mm, thickness - 1,15 mm, mintage - 15000000 pcs. Such coins were released 1944, 1946 & 1949.
Acquired two new Congo coins this week. Here is the elephant. A Congo Free State 1988 unc 1 centime arrived the same day from a different seller.