Catalog
1000 Francs CFA Sauvons le pays
| Issuer | Banque Centrale des États de l'Afrique de l'Ouest (BCEAO) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1992 |
| Type | Non-circulating coin |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | The national arms of Benin displayed prominently in the centre of the field, featuring a quartered shield supported by two rampant lions, surmounted by a bull's head and flanked by decorative foliage. A scroll beneath the shield bears the national motto FRATERNITE JUSTICE TRAVAIL. The legend REPUBLIQUE DU BENIN arcs along the upper periphery, while the denomination 1 000 FRANCS CFA appears in the lower field below the arms. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | REPUBLIQUE DU BENIN FRATERNITE JUSTICE TRAVAIL 1000 FRANCS CFA |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
The "Sauvons le pays" — "Save the country" — series was issued roughly eighteen months before the CFA franc's catastrophic January 1994 devaluation, in which France and the IMF jointly halved the currency's value overnight. That devaluation, the first in the CFA franc's entire postwar history, wiped out savings across eight West African nations simultaneously. Whether the title was prescient or coincidental is an open question, but the timing is difficult to ignore.
Struck for the collector market rather than circulation, these were never intended to function as monetary instruments in the countries whose central bank issued them.