Ten Francs Silver 2003 Historical Cars - Isotta Fraschini, Coin from Congo, Democratic Republic of the - detailed information

The Democratic Republic of the Congo normally uses banknotes for circulation, and does not issue coins in the Congolese Franc currency. However, the country has authorised some foreign mints to issue commemorative and bullion coins under its jurisdiction.

Most of them are in standard bullion sizes, but some are not. CIT issued a series of silver 10 Francs and Five Francs in their own format, in 25 to 27 grams of silver. The coins are considered "Non-Circulating Legal Tender" (NCLT) and not bullion because they are issued at prices higher than their bullion value and are targeted at collectors who appreciate them for their artistic or sentimental value, and not at investors in precious metals.

This coin is part of the Historical Cars collection, and features the 1927 Isotta Fraschini Typ 8A.

The company was located in Milan, Italy; it opened a sales office in New York in 1907, and later also in London, Paris, Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo and Santiago de Chile. Their exclusively tailored and luxuriously equipped cars have reached over the years the level of a status symbol world wide. It was the first automobile company which produced at that time an 8-cylinder motor in aluminium. The volume of the piston displacement reached beyond 7300 cc to generate the power of 150 hp for moving the 2,500 kg heavy roadster with a speed up to 160 km/h over the country site. The famous actor Rodolfo (Rudolph) Valentino owned a compressor car model built personally for him.