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2 Centimes - Albert I
| Issuer | Belgian Congo (1908-1960) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1910-1919 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Milled |
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| Obverse description | Five interlaced royal monograms of King Albert I, each rendered as a stylized 'A', arranged in a star formation around the central circular hole, enclosed within a beaded inner border. The bilingual legend 'CONGO BELGE · BELGISCH-CONGO' encircles the design in the outer field, separated by two small dots at the base. The overall composition is geometric and heraldic in character, reflecting the colonial administration's dual French and Dutch identity. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A large five-pointed star with finely engraved radiating lines fills the central field, its apex pointing upward and its center pierced by the circular hole. Three small five-pointed stars flank each side of the large star in the lower field, for a total of six subsidiary stars. The denomination '2 C.' appears in the upper field to the left and right of the central star's upper points, while the date '1910' is inscribed in the exergue below. The entire design is enclosed within a beaded border. |
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| Additional information |
Belgian Congo's copper coinage of this period was produced under the administration established by the Belgian state after it forcibly assumed control of the Congo Free State from Leopold II in 1908 — a direct consequence of international outrage over the atrocities documented by missionaries and journalists throughout the preceding decade. The transition from personal royal possession to formal colonial territory required an entirely new monetary framework, and these small copper pieces were among the first coins struck under that arrangement.
Minted at the Brussels mint, production spanned the First World War years, during which the Congo's considerable mineral resources — particularly copper — became strategically critical to the Allied war effort.