Catalog
1 Franc
| Issuer | French West Africa |
|---|---|
| Year | 1948-1955 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | 1.2 mm |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | A forward-facing head of a leptoceros gazelle (Gazella leptoceros) is depicted centrally, its long slender horns rising prominently and flanking the denomination numeral. The denomination '1 F.' appears divided by the horns in the upper field. Stylised agricultural plants and crops fan outward symmetrically on either side of the gazelle's head, symbolising the natural wealth of the territory. A beaded border frames the entire composition, and the legend AFRIQUE OCCIDENTALE FRANÇAISE curves along the lower periphery. |
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| Additional information |
French West Africa — a federation of eight territories administered from Dakar — issued its own coinage series beginning in 1944 under the Institut d'Émission de l'Afrique Occidentale Française et du Togo. The franc issues of 1948 onward were minted in Paris during a period when metropolitan France was itself rebuilding its monetary infrastructure after the German occupation, which partly explains the lightweight aluminium-magnesium alloy chosen: metal allocation across the empire remained constrained well into the early 1950s.
The federation was dissolved in 1960 when its constituent territories — Senegal, Mali, Guinea, Ivory Coast, and others — each achieved independence, ending the series abruptly.