100 Francs CFA Bison

The Ivory Coast has issued commemorative gold pieces under the CFA franc umbrella since the early 2000s, exploiting a legal framework that permits member states of the West African Economic and Monetary Union to authorize collector coinage without controlling their own monetary policy. These pieces are invariably produced by European private mints — most commonly in France or Poland — and have no meaningful circulation history on the ground in Abidjan.

The American bison was hunted to near-extinction by the 1880s, with the continental population collapsing from an estimated 30 million animals to fewer than 1,000 individuals within two decades.