The Austrian Philharmonic design, originally introduced by the Austrian Mint in 1989 as a bullion coin, has been licensed and adapted by a number of small issuers seeking to produce affordable collectibles on base-metal planchets. Gabon's CFA franc issues of this type are struck in silver-plated bronze rather than silver, positioning them firmly as novelty items rather than bullion. The face value is nominal — 1000 CFA francs represented roughly €1.50 at the time of issue.
KM#51 attribution places it within a broader run of similar Gabonese issues from the same period, many sharing planchets with contemporaneous releases from other CFA zone members.
The Austrian Philharmonic design, originally introduced by the Austrian Mint in 1989 as a bullion coin, has been licensed and adapted by a number of small issuers seeking to produce affordable collectibles on base-metal planchets. Gabon's CFA franc issues of this type are struck in silver-plated bronze rather than silver, positioning them firmly as novelty items rather than bullion. The face value is nominal — 1000 CFA francs represented roughly €1.50 at the time of issue.
KM#51 attribution places it within a broader run of similar Gabonese issues from the same period, many sharing planchets with contemporaneous releases from other CFA zone members.