100 Francs CFA Congolese Peafowl

The Congolese peafowl (*Afropavo congensis*) was unknown to Western science until 1936, when James Chapin of the American Museum of Natural History identified a museum specimen that had sat misidentified in a Belgian collection for decades. Endemic to the dense rainforests of the Congo Basin, it remains one of the most range-restricted of all peafowl species. BEAC's wildlife series from this period served the collector market almost exclusively — the Republic of Congo's circulating coinage needs were met by far cheaper aluminium-bronze issues, making copper 30g pieces an export product from inception.