Belgian Congo 1923 50 centimes
This specimen was lot 33573 in Heritage sale 3067 (Long Beach, September 2018), where it sold for $264. The catalog description[1] noted, "Belgian Congo: Belgian Colony. Albert 50 Centimes 1923/2 MS66 NGC. Variety with Flemish legends. A clear overdate, and in terms of value, the most coveted of the issue with this feature, according to the SCWC. Moreover, the piece is conditionally scarce and highly lustrous, with bright flashy fields, the seemingly flat features a consequence of the type's design and no way indicative of a weakness of strike, which shows itself to be exemplary. The finest graded example at NGC to-date." This type was struck 1921-29 and replaced an earlier coin struck in silver. In 1908, after an international outcry, king Leopold II was forced to surrender his personal domain in the Congo to the Belgian government, which curbed the worst abuses of forced labor and slavery. This design was also struck with Flemish legends (KM 23) to appease political sentiment in Belgium though few in the Congo can have heard of Flanders or cared what language the natives spoke.
Recorded mintage: 7,200,000.
Specification: 6.46 g, copper-nickel, 24 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: KM 22.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Cristiano Bierrenbach, Warren Tucker and Sam Spiegel, 2018 September 6-11 Long Beach Expo World Coins & Ancient Coins Signature Auction #3067, Dallas: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2018.
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