Belgium

The Free State of Congo is a territory in Africa that was privately owned by Leopold II, part-time king of Belgium, from 1885 to 1908. Possessions of territories are marked in history by harsh genocide of the local population. Suffice it to note that in 40 years (from 1880 to 1920) the population of the Congo has halved. The first issue of coins took place in 1887. The mint consisted of 4 copper and 4 silver coins.

Modern Belgian statehood dates back to 1830, when the state gained independence from the Netherlands after the Belgian Revolution. Up to this point, Belgium had been part of something: the Western Roman Empire, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, France, the Netherlands... That is why, in the territories of Belgium at the beginning of the XIX century, French, Dutch and Austrian coins were in circulation.

 

Those who are fond of the history of minting coins by European states at the beginning of the last century could not help but notice that due to military needs, a number of countries during the First World War were forced to abandon the issue of coins from strategic materials such as brass, bronze, copper, nickel and switch to less popular in the military industry zinc and steel. Issued coins sometimes repeated the design of their pre-war "predecessors," but only in a different material, or, came out in a completely new design . I want to tell you about these coins, as well as coins issued by the conquering countries for circulation in the occupied territories, accompanying my review with illustrations of coins from my own collection.