A wonder of aviation, from a troubled country

Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was born with independence from Belgium in 1960. The country has only issued ten circulating coins in that time:

• 10 Francs in 1965 (1 Franc = 100 Centimes)
• 10 Sengi, 1 Likuta, 5 Makuta in 1967 (Some minted to 1977, date frozen)
• 5, 10, 20 Makuta, 1, 5, 10 Zaïres (various times from 1973-1988)

Since 1998, the DRC has used the Franc (1 Franc = 100 Centimes), although only banknotes are currently issued. The last circulating coin issued was the 10 Zaïres of 1988.

The country has, however, issued at least 568 non-circulating coins for collectors.

A lot of developing countries issue non-circulating coins as a way of raising money from overseas collectors. DRC does have great natural wealth. However, the DRC also has a bad human rights record. This does make me feel conflicted about collecting these coins. How do you feel about collector coins from countries such as this? Let us know below!

Obverse

The obverse features the country name above and date below. The main design on the obverse is a lion, standing, facing left. The country name is written “REPUBLIQUE DEMOCRATIQUE DU CONGO”, in French. The DRC’s coat of arms has changed a number of times, however the lion has generally been one of the main elements.

The coin appears to be proof or at least proof-like, though sites such as Numista don’t indicate. This particular coin demonstrates why it is important not to touch the surfaces of proof coins. Those marks in the blank fields around the lion are not scratches, but fingerprints from someone who handled the coin before I got it. I was actually reluctant to take it out of it’s holder to photograph it, but was very careful (and used rubber coated numismatic tweezers).

Reverse

The reverse features Concorde, flying towards the top-left. The flags of the France and the UK, coloured are (respectively) above and below the aircraft. The legend above reads “LE MYTHE DU CONCORDE” (The myth of Concorde) and below is the value, 5 Francs.

Concorde

Concorde was an engineering marvel, and also an icon of beauty and style. The supersonic airliner was a joint venture between Great Britain and France.  Concorde made the world smaller, with a flight from London Heathrow to New York taking around 3 hours, compared to the usual 8 hours.

In 1947, the (British) Air Ministry, tasked Fairey Aviation with the production of research to explore the possibility of delta wing – the wing design eventually used on Concorde. (Delta comes from the wing’s triangular shape, which resembles the Greek letter “delta”). The “Supersonic Transport Aircraft Committee” was formed in 1956 to study the possibility of building a supersonic airliner. The first test flight in support of the program was a BAC 221 in 1964. In 1968, the first British and French planes rolled out of the hanger. Concorde prototype 001 took its first flight in Toulouse, France in September. The British 002, flew in April the following year. The first production Concorde flew in 1973, with others taking their maiden flights over the next two years.

(7 Concordes on the ground in triangle formation, from Brooklands Museum)

On January 21, 1976, the first commercial flights took off from London to Bahrain and Paris to Rio, both departing at exactly 11:40 hours.

On the 25th of July 2000, Air France Concorde F-BTSC crashed in Paris. 109 people and 4 on the ground lost their lives on this day. The aircraft lost its airworthiness certificate in August that year as investigations into the accident were ongoing.

After extensive modifications, both Air France and British Airways reinstated flights in November 2001. On the 26th of November 2003, the final ever flight of Concorde departed Heathrow, flying over Bristol before landing at Filton Airfield, two days after the last commercial flights. (History extensively from Brooklands Museum).

What is your favourite engineering feat which is pictured on a coin? Let us know!