1 Franc Essai

Essai strikes for Madagascar's post-independence coinage were produced in Paris at the Monnaie de Paris, which retained the contract for Francophone African and island territories well after decolonization. The 1965 essai series preceded the currency reforms that would accompany Madagascar's full monetary break from the CFA franc zone — the Malagasy franc had been introduced in 1963, and these trial pieces reflect the stabilization period as the young republic tested compositions and production tolerances before committing to full circulation strikes.

KM#E6 is among the scarcer denominations in the 1965 essai run, with distribution limited almost entirely to the numismatic trade through official Monnaie de Paris specimen sets.