1925 Belgian Congo 1 Franc....Overdate? Is this rare? 0

[Teero4800]

Hello all,

First I would like to say that I greatly appreciate anyone's time who can shine some light on this coin, or pass any information my way.  I have what I believe is a 1925 Belgian Congo 1 Franc (KM #21) that appears to also have an overdate error....is this a 1925/3?  I have spent many hours trying to research this coin, only to find next to nothing in the way of rarity, mintage, etc, even a picture that's similar to mine!  One database informed me that the coin does "exist", lol.  Do I actually have something here, or is this another case of a novice's eyes playing tricks?  In the off chance that it actually is a rare variety and not a smudge on the coin or whatnot, what would be my next step?  What grade would this be considered?  Thank you very much, I look forward to any and all replies! Please advise!  I would be happy to provide more information/pictures upon request.

 

EDIT: This is my first time here, so please feel free to crack the whip if I've made any mistakes!  Much appreciated :-)

Edited August 3, 2019 by Teero4800

[Teero4800]

I apologize if replying to my own thread is against the rules, please remove my post and it won't happen again.  Just posting a full pic of said coin for context.

[Teero4800]

[JKK]

The weird thing is it looks like a 1925/4, which I did not find on the list of known overdates for the Flemish issue. I don't really see a 3 in there, but a 4 looks at least possible. Interesting coin.

[Teero4800]

Any idea as to what my next move is in regards to this coin?

[Just Bob]

Found these images on ebay. Judging by the numerals on these two coins, I tend to agree with JKK on your coin being, or at least strongly resembling, a 5/4. I have no idea who attributes world coin varieties besides NGC, but I would try to find someone in that field,  and email pictures to them, if it were my coin.

[JKK]

15 hours ago, Teero4800 said:

Any idea as to what my next move is in regards to this coin?

Since I'm not sure how many numismatists there are in the Congo, I think your best bet would be an experienced Belgian dealer. Not sure what NGC does about world coin varieties (but I believe whatever Just Bob says about that). I'm not sure what kind of value it might have, but the likeliest people to know would be Belgian coin experts.

[World Colonial]

There is no organized collecting in the Congo that I have ever heard or if it exists, it is immaterial.  To my knowledge, the only African country with anything resembling "critical mass" measured by the collector base in Africa is South Africa.  Overwhelmingly, most collecting of African coins (concentrated in colonial and earlier such as this one) occurs mostly elsewhere.

To "read between the lines" in the OP question, the coin may be rare but there is nothing unusual about the scarcity or rarity of die varieties. 

I don't know anything about this coin but it's unlikely to be worth much.  I'd grade the coin as average circulated to somewhat higher measured by wear and the surfaces look ok, but not particularly attractive.  It looks like it has been scratched on the obverse and the reverse cleaned.

[Scott A]

Well I am an avid collector of Belgian Congo coins from the beginning (1887) to 1999.  There are a numerous overdates in this series.  Given the condition of your piece, it would not be worth much of any premium.  Now if it was mint state it could be worth a decent price.  That being said, there are two overdates that I am aware of for this date, 1925/3 and 1925/4.

[Henri Charriere]

On 1/26/2020 at 7:56 PM, Scott A said:

Well I am an avid collector of Belgian Congo coins from the beginning (1887) to 1999....

Old thread acknowledged. Academic question: Would not any coin minted after the 1994 civil war be more technically referred to as Rwandan since the Belgian Congo no longer existed?