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1500 Francs CFA / 1 Africa IDAC Coinage; Cowry shells
| Issuer | Equatorial Guinea |
|---|---|
| Year | 2005 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | 2.1 mm |
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| Obverse description | Two cowry shells depicted in high relief dominate the central field, shown side by side with fine surface detail highlighting their characteristic dorsal ridges and smooth mantles. The legend GUINEA ECUATORIAL curves along the upper periphery in Latin characters. The date 2005 appears in stylised numerals at the lower portion of the field, flanked by a small mint mark below the shells. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
Equatorial Guinea has a long history of issuing coins with little practical connection to everyday commerce — this piece is a case in point. The "1 Africa" denomination references the IDAC (Institut pour la Diversification des Activités de Collecte), a short-lived initiative that attempted to market a unified pan-African collector currency across several francophone states in the early 2000s. It never achieved meaningful circulation anywhere.
The cowry shell motif carries genuine historical weight in the region — cowries functioned as currency across West and Central Africa for centuries, with the Gulf of Guinea trade networks among the most active in that system.