50 Francs 1952, Belgian Congo
| in Krause book | Number: 24a |
| Years of issue: | 15.07.1952 |
| Edition: | |
| Signatures: | Le Premier-Directeur: Hector - Jules Martin (17.06.1954 – 3.10.1960), Le Gouverneur: Paul-Marie Charles (06.08.1951 - 06.04. 1954) |
| Serie: | Banque Centrale du Congo Belge et du Ruanda-Urundi |
| Specimen of: | 15.07.1952 |
| Material: | Cotton fiber |
| Size (mm): | 156 x 92 |
| Printer: | American Bank Note Company, New-York |
* All pictures marked 
are increased partially by magnifying glass, the remaining open in full size by clicking on the image.
** The word "Specimen" is present only on some of electronic pictures, in accordance with banknote images publication rules of appropriate banks.
Description
Watermark:
Avers:
On the right, in profile - the woman from the Makele region (Belgian Congo, today - Democratic Republic of the Congo).
On right and left sider are the sugarcane.
Saccharum officinarum, sugarcane, is a large, strong-growing species of grass in the genus Saccharum. It originated in New Guinea, Muslims brought it to contemporary Spain (Andalusia, between Málaga and Motril) the only place in Europe where it grows. It arrived in the New World with the Spanish and is now cultivated in tropical and subtropical countries worldwide for the production of sugar and other products.
Saccharum officinarum, a perennial plant, grows in clumps consisting of a number of strong unbranched stems. A network of rhizomes forms under the soil which sends up secondary shoots near the parent plant. The stems vary in colour, being green, pinkish, or purple and can reach 5 m. (16 ft.) in height. They are jointed, nodes being present at the bases of the alternate leaves. The internodes contain a fibrous white pith immersed in sugary sap. The elongated, linear, green leaves have thick midribs and saw-toothed edges and grow to a length of about 30 to 60 cm. (12 to 24 in.) and width of 5 cm. (2.0 in.). The terminal inflorescence is a panicle up to 60 cm. (24 in.) long, a pinkish plume that is broadest at the base and tapering towards the top. The spikelets are borne on side branches and are about 3 mm. (0.12 in.) long and are concealed in tufts of long, silky hair. The fruits are dry and each one contains a single seed. Sugarcane harvest typically occurs before the plants flower, as the flowering process causes a reduction in sugar content. 
On top is the flag of Belgian Congo.
The heraldic history of the Congo begins on June 21, 1877. In September 1876, at the initiative of the King of Belgium Leopold II "to open Africa to civilization and abolish slave labor", the African International Association (AMA) was created. She chooses the blue flag with the golden star in the center as the emblem. The star symbolizes the hope that illuminates the African darkness. This flag was inspired by the king himself.
It was used by several researchers at the service of Leopold II. They raised it at their stations, which were installed on Congolese territory and this flag quickly became the sign of King Leopold II in central Africa.
Denominations in numerals are in all corners and centered. Centered in words.
Revers:
The African leopard (Panthera pardus pardus) is the leopard nominate subspecies native to many countries in Africa. It is widely distributed in most of sub-Saharan Africa, but the historical range has been fragmented in the course of habitat conversion. Leopards have been recorded in North Africa as well.
Leopards inhabited a wide range of habitats within Africa, from mountainous forests to grasslands and savannahs, excluding only extremely sandy desert. They are most at risk in areas of semi-desert, where scarce resources often result in conflict with nomadic farmers and their livestock.
Leopards used to occur in most of sub-Saharan Africa, occupying both rainforest and arid desert habitats. They were found in all habitats with annual rainfall above 50 mm. (2.0 in.), and can penetrate areas with less than this amount of rainfall along river courses. They range exceptionally up to 5,700 m. (18,700 ft.), have been sighted on high slopes of the Ruwenzori and Virunga volcanoes, and observed when drinking thermal water 37 °C (99 °F) in the Virunga National Park.
They appear to be successful at adapting to altered natural habitat and settled environments in the absence of intense persecution. There were many records of their presence near major cities. But already in the 1980s, they have become rare throughout much of West Africa. Now, they remain patchily distributed within historical limits.
Leopards are rare in northern Africa. A relict population persists in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, in forest and mountain steppe in elevations of 300 to 2,500 m. (980 to 8,200 ft.), where the climate is temperate to cold.
In 2014, a leopard was killed in the Elba Protected Area in southeastern Egypt. This was the first sighting of a leopard in the country since the 1950s.
In 2016, a leopard was recorded for the first time in a semi-arid area of Yechilay in northern Ethiopia.
Denominations in numerals are on right and left sides. Centered (at the bottom) in words.
Comments:
Gouverneur: Hector-Jules MARTIN (17.06.1954 - 3.10.1960).
He was born in 1899 in Cuesmes. After studies at the Provincial Institute of Industrial Hainaut, it entered the Bank of Belgian Congo. He was appointed Secretary
Management in Leopoldville in 1922, Director in Elizabethville 1927 and director in Brussels in 1945. When the Central Bank the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi was established in 1951 H.Martin was appointed the first Director and in 1954, Governor.
Commissioner Hoover Foundation for Development University of Brussels, since 1942. Administrator-Treasurer Belgian Foundation in Montana, 1949. Administrator and Vice-
President of the Savings Bank of the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi, 1952-1958. Administrator and Vice-President of the Credit Company in Colonat and Industry, 1953-1958. treasurer Honorary Officer of the Belgian Red Cross. administrator
Chairman of Study Financial Group of the National Institute for the development of Bas-Congo "Inga", 1958-1960.
Le Gouverneur: Paul-Marie Charles (06.08.1951 - 06.04. 1954).
Paul-Marie CHARLES. He was born on April 28, 1885 in St-Josse-ten-Noode. Doctor of Law from the University of Louvain, he started his career in the judiciary. He was alternately Substitute of the Prosecutor of the King in Mons (1911), in Brussels (1913), Military Auditor in campaign (1914-1918), First Deputy Prosecutor of the King in Brussels (1920) and Substitute of the General Prosecutor near the Brussels Court of Appeal (1924). Then, he oriented his career to the Belgian Congo. He was successively Legal Counselor at the Ministry of the Colonies and Professor at the Colonial University of Antwerp (1925); Chief of Cabinet to the Minister of the Colonies (1927); Secretary General of the Colonial Department (1929). Between 1929 and 1934, King Albert I entrusted him with the colonial formation of the Prince Royal. He was called to the government and twice held the post of Minister of Colonies. Between the two terms, he served as Administrator General of the Colonies and Chief of Staff of this Ministry since June 27, 1931. January 13, 1938, he was appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Belgian Bank of Congo, then Governor of this precursor of the Emission Institute. As such, he sat on the Regency Council of the National Bank of Belgium. He was also President of the Office of Exploitation of Colonial Transports (OTRACO), President of the Royal Belgian Colonial Union, President of the work of Saint Vincent de Paul and the Damien Foundation, Member of the Colonial Council since 1940. He died on April 6, 1954.
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