A 40mm coin weighing just 0.1418 grams of .9999 gold is a physical curiosity — the gold content is negligible, roughly 1/200th of a troy ounce, placing this firmly in the novelty collectible category rather than bullion. Togo's use of the CFA franc ties it monetarily to a French-managed currency bloc of 14 nations whose central bank, the BCEAO, holds reserves partially in Paris — an arrangement critics have called neo-colonial and which generated serious political debate in West Africa around precisely this period.
A 40mm coin weighing just 0.1418 grams of .9999 gold is a physical curiosity — the gold content is negligible, roughly 1/200th of a troy ounce, placing this firmly in the novelty collectible category rather than bullion. Togo's use of the CFA franc ties it monetarily to a French-managed currency bloc of 14 nations whose central bank, the BCEAO, holds reserves partially in Paris — an arrangement critics have called neo-colonial and which generated serious political debate in West Africa around precisely this period.