Belgian Congo 50 Francs 1944, My White Whale Is A White Elephant

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Author	Replies: 9 / Views: 1,497
willieboyd2 Pillar of the Community United States 525 Posts	Posted 05/18/2021 4:44 pm I had wanted to have one of these big coins since I was a kid in 1964 when I saw one in R. S. Yeoman's book A Catalog of Modern World Coins. I finally got one after 60 years. Belgian Congo 50 Francs 1944 Silver, 35 mm, 17.37 gm, 500 fine Obverse: Elephant facing left / 1944 Reverse: BANQUE DU CONGO BELGE (French) / BANK VAN BELGISCH CONGO (Flemish) / 50 FR Mint: South African Mint in Pretoria It was later joined by a similar but smaller coin: Belgian Congo 2 Francs 1943 Brass, 28x25 mm, 5.93 gm, hexagonal Mint: Philadelphia Mint The United States was happy to mint these coins for the Belgian authorities. The Belgian Congo had a large uranium mine which had been closed in 1937 as no one wanted uranium. The mine was re-opened in 1944 and the newly mined uranium was sent to America. https://www.brianrxm.com The Mysterious Egyptian Magic Coin Coins in Movies Coins on Television Report this Post to the Staff

Seeker55 Pillar of the Community United States 634 Posts	Posted 05/18/2021 5:49 pm Nice coins! If you like elephants you might want to check out the many coins from India with elephants (11 pages from Zeno search). http://search.zeno.ru/index.php?v=0...f=0&s=0&p=11 Report this Post to the Staff
tdziemia Pillar of the Community United States 7941 Posts	Posted 05/18/2021 9:13 pm Anyone else notice the spelling error? Edited by tdziemia 05/18/2021 9:15 pm Report this Post to the Staff
atticguy Pillar of the Community United States 1373 Posts	Posted 05/18/2021 10:27 pm Quote: Anyone else notice the spelling error? I'm 100% Belgian but I can't read/speak a lick of the Dutch/French languages. Please tell me what the coins say. Report this Post to the Staff
CentSation Pillar of the Community United States 713 Posts	Posted 05/18/2021 10:43 pm Quote: Anyone else notice the spelling error? Good eye -- So one is a fake? Or a variety? Report this Post to the Staff
tdziemia Pillar of the Community United States 7941 Posts	Posted 05/18/2021 11:00 pm Neither. Probably a knowledge of Flemish spelling was not a job requirement for the die engraver in Philadelphia. Quote: Please tell me what the coins say. Bank of the Belgian Congo. Once in French, once in Flemish. Edited by tdziemia 05/18/2021 11:09 pm Report this Post to the Staff
captainmandrake1 Pillar of the Community United States 878 Posts	Posted 05/18/2021 11:08 pm Nice finds! I just got my Belgian Congo lion coin today. Had been looking for a nice example and got this UNC Details Cleaned, but just a light whizzing. Report this Post to the Staff
PNWType Pillar of the Community United States 561 Posts	Posted 05/19/2021 12:49 am Quote: Probably a knowledge of Flemish spelling was not a job requirement for the die engraver in Philadelphia. I would have assumed they were looking at a different coin of the belgian congo and could've read it off of there Maybe they were bothered that an extra letter wouldnt have fit within the top of the hexagon like they wanted... Edited by PNWType 05/19/2021 12:50 am Report this Post to the Staff
bart Pillar of the Community Belgium 651 Posts	Posted 05/19/2021 10:53 am Quote: Anyone else notice the spelling error? It is indeed a known spelling error. And no, it is not a fake, and neither a variety: the whole mintage has this spelling error. The spelling error due to a english-speaking engraver, who forgot to put the C in BELGISCH. And as most of our Belgian officials at the time were french-speaking, they didn't notice the spelling error neither. Report this Post to the Staff
David Graham Pillar of the Community Australia 1610 Posts	Posted 05/24/2021 4:45 pm That's a cool coin. Now I want one too!! Report this Post to the Staff
	Replies: 9 / Views: 1,497

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