Cameroon's 100 Francs issues of this type belong to a well-documented category of coins struck not for domestic circulation but for the international collector market, produced under license through European minting intermediaries. The CFA franc zone countries — Cameroon among them — have issued dozens of such pieces since the 1990s, with ecclesiastical subjects proving reliably commercial.
John Paul II died in 2005, making this a posthumous commemorative issued six years after his death, the same year his beatification was celebrated in Rome.
Cameroon's 100 Francs issues of this type belong to a well-documented category of coins struck not for domestic circulation but for the international collector market, produced under license through European minting intermediaries. The CFA franc zone countries — Cameroon among them — have issued dozens of such pieces since the 1990s, with ecclesiastical subjects proving reliably commercial.
John Paul II died in 2005, making this a posthumous commemorative issued six years after his death, the same year his beatification was celebrated in Rome.