1000 Francs CFA African Big Five - Elephant, Colored

Burkina Faso's monetary authority has issued coins under the CFA franc framework since the country's independence from France in 1960, though the actual striking of commemorative silver pieces like this one is invariably contracted to European private mints — in this case almost certainly Berne or a comparable facility — with Burkina Faso lending its name and legal tender status to a product aimed squarely at the collector export market rather than domestic circulation.

The CFA franc itself is pegged to the euro at a fixed rate guaranteed by the French Treasury, an arrangement that has drawn sustained criticism from African economists since the 1990s.