1000 Francs Independence, essai

Niger's independence was proclaimed on August 3, 1960, and this essai was produced as a trial piece in anticipation of a circulating coinage that never materialized — France's CFA franc arrangements meant newly independent Sahelian states rarely needed their own sovereign currency infrastructure. Essais of this type were struck in strictly limited quantities, typically fewer than two thousand pieces, for presentation and archival purposes by the Paris Mint.