The "coup d'état" this coin commemorates was Ben Ali's removal of Bourguiba on November 7, 1987 — achieved not by force but by a team of doctors certifying the aging president medically unfit to govern, a constitutional maneuver that allowed Ben Ali to sidestep the messier optics of a military seizure. By 2002, the anniversary had become an annual fixture of state self-congratulation, with the Banque Centrale issuing commemoratives in both Arabic and French legend variants to serve collector markets across North Africa and Europe.
The "coup d'état" this coin commemorates was Ben Ali's removal of Bourguiba on November 7, 1987 — achieved not by force but by a team of doctors certifying the aging president medically unfit to govern, a constitutional maneuver that allowed Ben Ali to sidestep the messier optics of a military seizure. By 2002, the anniversary had become an annual fixture of state self-congratulation, with the Banque Centrale issuing commemoratives in both Arabic and French legend variants to serve collector markets across North Africa and Europe.