10 Dalasis Inspecting the Troops

The Gambia's 1996 coinage program coincided with the consolidation of power by Yahya Jammeh, who had seized control in a bloodless coup just two years earlier in July 1994. Military-themed issues of this period reflect the junta's deliberate effort to legitimize the new regime through numismatic commemoration — the AFPRC government was still navigating international sanctions and diplomatic isolation when these were struck.