Belgian Congo 50 Francs 1944, my White Whale is a White Elephant

WillieBoyd2

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.

bidask

I have never seen a 1944 Belgium 50 francs graded MS 65 ….not sure if one even exists ?!

I own a MS 64 with good luster … great coin!

FilamCoins

I do like that simple, classic design. Must be spectacular in gem BU or proof (if they exist).

carabonnair

I like those a lot. The hexagonal one is also famous for the misspelling "BELGISH" instead of "BELGISCH".

amwldcoin

The coin cutters sure put a dent in the population of these.

sannechino

bidask - there are no 1944 50 Francs graded in gem yet. (11/10/2025)
I do have the highest graded at NGC which is an MS64+

7Jaguars

Nice coin even at 64. Quite a few of these have shown at auction in the last 10 or so years, with many in European auctions & would imagine there are some ungraded "gems" out there in 65 - but maybe not much better as it looks as though these were unceremoniously dropped into bags and jostled about...

Samets

I'm patiently waiting for my submission to post results since my 1943 2 Franc hexagon is being graded...