100 Francs CFA Essai

The Banque Centrale des États de l'Afrique Équatoriale et du Cameroun was itself a transitional institution — it replaced the earlier Institut d'Émission de l'Afrique Équatoriale Française et du Cameroun following independence, and would later be superseded by the Banque des États de l'Afrique Centrale in 1972. This essai was struck just one year before that reorganization, making it one of the final pattern issues produced under the BCEAEC's authority.

Essais from this issuer are typically distributed to member state finance ministries and retained by the mint — Monnaie de Paris in this case — rather than released for circulation.