Catalog
1000 Francs CFA Gymnast- 1992 Olympic Games
| Issuer | Benin (1975-date) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1994 |
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| Currency | CFA Franc (1945-date) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A male gymnast is depicted in dynamic mid-routine form atop a pommel horse rendered in the lower portion of the field, his body fully extended in a striking split position with legs raised. Behind him, a stylized skyline of the Barcelona Olympic venue towers and spires fills the upper background in relief. The inscription XXV JEUX OLYMPIQUES arcs along the upper legend, with the date 1992 to the right, REPUBLIQUE DU BENIN across the mid-field, and Barcelone along the lower right periphery. |
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| Edge | Reeded |
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| Additional information |
Benin's Olympic commemorative program of the early 1990s was a fiscal exercise as much as a celebratory one — the country had only recently emerged from seventeen years of Marxist-Leninist single-party rule under Mathieu Kérékou, and the new democratic government was aggressively licensing its minting rights to generate hard currency. These coins were never intended for domestic circulation and were produced almost entirely for the collector export market through European distributors.
The two-year gap between the 1992 Games and this 1994 strike is characteristic of the period's commemorative trade coinage.