Congolese Commemorative Coin

The coin in this photograph is a historical circulation piece of the Congo Free State, cataloged here under the broad label "Congolese Commemorative Coin." The visible face shows the value 10 with a large letter C for centimes, a bold radiant five-pointed star, a border of small stars, and the date 1889, all struck around a central hole in a brown, copper-toned metal.

Despite the generic catalog name, the piece itself is an everyday small-change coin rather than a modern commemorative. It belongs to the early coinage of the Congo Free State, the territory in central Africa that later became the Belgian Congo and, eventually, the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The holed format and star motif are the defining visual features. The center hole is functional and part of the original design, and the surrounding rays and ring of stars give the coin a distinctive, easily recognized appearance among African colonial-era coppers.

The Congo Free State (État Indépendant du Congo) existed from 1885 to 1908 as a territory under the personal rule of King Leopold II of Belgium. It issued its own coinage beginning in the late 1880s to support commerce in the region, separate from Belgium's own coins.

The small-denomination coppers, including the 5 and 10 centimes, were made as holed coins bearing a radiant star and the crowned royal monogram of Leopold II, and were struck in Europe for use in the colony. The 10 centimes appears with dates in this early series, and the example shown is dated 1889.

In 1908 the territory was annexed by Belgium and became the Belgian Congo, which later introduced its own coinage. As a result, Congo Free State pieces such as this one are now historical collectibles tied to a specific and heavily debated period of colonial history; the entry describes the coin as an object without endorsing that history.

Start with the star face, which is the side shown. A genuine coin of this type carries the numeral 10 near the top and a letter C (for centimes) opposite it, a large five-pointed radiant star centered on the coin, a ring of small stars around the rim, and a date such as 1889 along the lower edge. The central hole passes cleanly through the design.

The metal is brown, copper-colored, and the coin is comparatively large and heavy for a small denomination, on the order of a big colonial copper. The opposite face, not shown here, typically bears the crowned intertwined monogram of Leopold II and the legend ÉTAT INDÉPENDANT DU CONGO around the same central hole.

Do not confuse it with the visually similar but smaller 5 centimes of the same series, which reads 5 instead of 10, nor with later Belgian Congo holed coins that were struck in a paler copper-nickel alloy and look silvery rather than brown. Reading the value, the date, and the metal color together is the most reliable way to place the coin.

As a common early colonial copper, most examples are affordable. Well-worn pieces with smooth surfaces, corrosion, or damage around the hole tend to sell for modest sums and are often traded as inexpensive world- or colonial-coin material.

Condition and eye appeal drive any premium. Coins with sharp star rays, a fully legible date, clean fields, and even brown patina bring more than heavily circulated examples, and certain dates within the series can be scarcer than others.

Because values vary with date and grade, treat any figure as a rough guide rather than a fixed price. Check the specific date against recent auction results and world-coin listings, and be cautious with cleaned, holed-as-jewelry, or corroded pieces, which are worth less than problem-free coins.