100 Dinars 1987 Coup d'état 16th Anniversary, Arabic legend

Tunisia's 1987 "coup" — officially a "medical coup" — removed Habib Bourguiba from power on November 7th of that year, with Prime Minister Zine El Abidine Ben Ali declaring the aging president medically unfit to govern. Ben Ali's government institutionalized November 7th as a national celebration, and commemorative gold issues marking the anniversary became a fixture of state ceremonial coinage through his tenure. By 2003, this was the sixteenth such issue in an increasingly self-congratulatory series that Ben Ali used to project legitimacy and continuity. He would be ousted himself in 2011, the first leader toppled by the Arab Spring.