1000 Francs CFA Hippocampus abdominalis

The hippocampus abdominalis, a pot-bellied seahorse native to the coastal waters of southern Australia and New Zealand, has no geographic or historical connection to the BEAC zone. Its appearance here is purely commercial — BEAC has issued a sprawling series of small-format gold coins featuring exotic fauna, produced primarily for the international collector market rather than any domestic monetary purpose. The coins never circulate in Central Africa.