1000 Francs CFA The Penguin - Irregular

Burkina Faso has no penguins, no coastline, and no historical connection to the Southern Ocean — which is precisely why this piece exists. The landlocked former Upper Volta has issued a stream of wildlife-themed novelty coins since the early 2010s, produced almost entirely for the European collector market through private minting intermediaries rather than for any domestic monetary purpose. The "Irregular" designation refers to the non-circular shaped planchet, a format that commands premium pricing in the collector novelty segment.

The CFA franc issuing authority for Burkina Faso is technically the BCEAO, making Ministry of Finance attribution on collector pieces a recurring ambiguity in the series.