1 Centime

Algeria's first post-independence coinage, issued in 1964, came two years after the Évian Accords ended the war with France. The Banque Centrale d'Algérie had only been established in 1963, replacing the Banque de l'Algérie et de la Tunisie — an institution that had operated under French authority since 1949. The centime denominations were struck in aluminium partly out of economic necessity; the new state had limited hard currency reserves and needed a cheap, domestically manageable coinage metal.

The 1 centime saw almost no practical circulation — its purchasing power was negligible from the day it was issued.