50 Centime Congo Free State (1885 - 1908) Silver Leopold II of Be ...

Metal:
Issue year(s):
1887

Catalog reference:



Congo (Free State), Leopold II. Silver 50 Centimes (½ Franc) Coin. XF!

Reference: KM-5.

Engraver: Leopold Wiener
Denomination: 50 Centimes (½ Franc)
Condition: A light edge hit at 9 o’clock (reverse), otherwise a nice XF+
Diameter: 18mm
Material: Silver
Weight: 2.44gm


Obverse: Bearded bust of Leopold II left. Engraver´s signature (“L. WIENER”) below.
Legend: LEOP. II R.D. BELG. SOUV. DE L’ETAT INDEP. DU CONGO

Reverse
: Crowned coat-of-arms of the Free State of Congo within wreath. Value above, date below.
Legend: 50 CENTIMES / 1896



The Congo Free State was a government privately controlled by Leopold II, King of the Belgians through a dummy non-governmental organization, the Association internationale africaine. Leopold was the sole shareholder and chairman, who increasingly used it for rubber, copper and other minerals in the upper Lualaba River basin (though it had been set up on the understanding that its purpose was to uplift the local people and develop the area). The state included the entire area of the present Democratic Republic of the Congo and existed from 1885 to 1908. The Congo Free State eventually earned infamy due to the increasingly brutal mistreatment of the local peoples and plunder of natural resources, leading to its abolition and annexation by the government of Belgium in 1908.


Under Leopold II’s administration, the Congo Free State became the site of one of the worst international scandals of the early twentieth century. The report of the British Consul Roger Casement led to the arrest and punishment of white officials who had been responsible for killings during a rubber-collecting expedition in 1903 (including one Belgian national for causing the shooting of at least 122 Congolese people).


The massive loss of life and atrocities inspired literature such as Joseph Conrad’s Heart Of Darkness, and outcries from upholders of the colonial mission like Winston Churchill. The general consensus is that the forced labor system directly and indirectly eliminated 20% of the population of the Congo.


European and U.S. reformers exposed the conditions in the Congo Free State to the public in 1900 through the Congo Reform Association. Also active in exposing the activities of the Congo Free State was the author Arthur Conan Doyle, whose book The Crime of the Congo was widely read in the early 1900s. By 1908, public pressure and diplomatic maneuvers led to the end of Leopold II’s rule and to the annexation of the Congo as a colony of Belgium, known as the Belgian Congo.


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13 coins in the group
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Posted by: anonymous  2017-12-14
Zaire-Belgisch Kongo, Leopold II. von Belgien50 Centimes 1887. K.M. 5. In US Plastic-Holder NGC MS63. Prachtexemplar. Schöne Patina. Fast Stempelglanz

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Posted by: anonymous  2017-04-02
Zaire-Belgisch Kongo, Leopold II. von Belgien50 Centimes 1887. K.M. 5. Stempelglanz

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Posted by: anonymous  2016-02-09
BELGIAN CONGO 1894 50 Centimes Silver Fine

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Posted by: anonymous  2015-12-07
CoinWorldTV 1896, Congo (Free State), Leopold II. Scarce Silver 50 Centimes (½ Franc) Coin. XF! Mint Year: 1896 Reference: KM-5. Engraver: Leopold Wiener Denomination: 50 Centimes (½ Franc) Condition: A light edge hit at 9 o'clock (reverse), otherwise a nice XF+ Dia ...

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Posted by: anonymous  2015-11-24
Zaire-Belgisch Kongo50 Centimes 1896. K.M. 5. Sehr schön

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Posted by: anonymous  2015-11-23
Zaire-Belgisch Kongo50 Centimes 1891. K.M. 5. Sehr schön

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France AE 10 Centimes 1871 A France, IIIe République. AE 5 Centimes Cérès 1871 A (30 mm, 10.03 g), Paris. KM 815.1. Presque FDC.

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Info: http://www.sixbid.com/browse.html?auction=1998&category=40863&lot ...
France, AR 50 Centimes 1881 A France, IIIe République. AR 50 Centimes 1881 A (2.46 g), Paris. Gad. 419. FDC.

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Info: http://www.sixbid.com/browse.html?auction=1998&category=40863&lot ...
France, AR 50 Centimes 1895 A France, IIIe République. AR 50 Centimes 1895 A (2.50 g), Paris. Gad. 419. FDC.
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